Four days later, at 8 PM, Kurt's phone rang.

He was alone in the house; Buster was out with friends in the "downtown" area—a bar/grill, a hardware store, a surprisingly clean public restroom, and a few shops—and Blaine was out putting the goats and cows inside to shelter them from the rain that fell outside the window.

Incoming Call From: Sebastian♥

Kurt smiled and picked up the phone. It had only been a week, but it felt like years since he had spoken to his boyfriend; they were still together, after all.

"Hey, sweetheart," Kurt greeted his boyfriend. He could hear a soft chuckle on the other end of the call.

"Hey, Kurt. How's Washington?"

Kurt shrugged, then realized Sebastian couldn't see him. "Small," he answered. "Lots of grass and tumbleweeds. I guess the stereotypes about rain don't have a lot of truth to them; today's the first day it's rained since I've been here. I like it, though. I like it way more than I thought I would."

Sebastian made a pensive noise into the phone. "Blaine's your dad's roommate, right?"

"No," Kurt corrected him quickly. "That's Buster. Blaine's his son. He's our age. We're friends." The statement sounded funny in his mouth, like he'd chosen the wrong word.

"Oh," Sebastian answered, surprised. "Well, I'm glad it's working out. Kurt...that's not actually why I called."

Unease settled in the pit of Kurt's stomach. "Oh, um, okay," Kurt stammered. "Why did you call?"

"Kurt, you mean so much to me," Sebastian started, all but confirming Kurt's fears, "but we need to break up."

Kurt couldn't breathe. His first boyfriend, the only guy who had ever liked him back, was ending things. "W-why?" he asked shakily, sitting down on unstable knees that wouldn't have been able to hold him up much longer. "Did you meet someone else?"

"No," Sebastian said with a disconcerting amount of nonchalance, like it was a viable possibility nonetheless. "Kurt, I'm doing this for you. I've been nothing but bad for you. You were so pure and innocent when we first got together, and then I went and got you hooked on booze and pills. There are no words to describe the guilt I feel about that. There's not a minute that goes by that I'm not thinking about what I did to you. You need this, Kurt; this summer away from that scene and away from my influence. I care about you so much, and I'm telling you that you need to get off of everything before it's too late. Don't make the same mistakes I did."

As Kurt listened to Sebastian's words, the lump in his throat grew and grew. He could barely find his voice to reply. "Sebastian," he croaked, incapable of getting any more words out before the tears started coming. "I-it wasn't just you. For a while...for a while, I wanted it, too. Once my dad found out...Seb, I can't betray him, but I can't just quit cold turkey. We both know that never works."

"You don't have to. Take it slow, babe, but promise me you'll stop. Promise me, promise your dad, promise the family you're staying with. I owe you a year of your life that you'll never get back, but if you don't quit, you'll owe yourself the rest of it."

Kurt didn't know what to say, except "thank you, Seb." It was simple, and it wasn't everything he wanted to say, but it conveyed the message well enough.

"You have my number, Kurt," Sebastian reminded him. "If things get tough, you can call me. I'm too far gone to change, babe, but I'll help you turn your life around."

With that, Sebastian hung up. Kurt's brain barely registered the dial tone before he raced upstairs, threw his phone on the top bunk of Blaine's bed, and ran outside to cry in peace.

- - -

Kurt lost track of the time he'd been soaking in the torrential rainstorm; he estimated about fifteen minutes. He was still crying softly, but the heaving sobs had passed. His throat ached. He was sitting on a damp bale of hay, as it was the only place available that wouldn't get his pants dirty.

"Kurt?"

Kurt looked up immediately to find a figure in a windbreaker and Wranglers running toward him from the barn door, dodging the open gates of the pastures. Panting heavily, Blaine sat down next to Kurt. He unzipped his jacket and wrapped it around Kurt's shoulders.

"You've been crying," he observed, wiping Kurt's cheeks with the sleeve of his red flannel shirt. Suddenly, faster than Kurt could process it in his state, Blaine stood up and pulled Kurt up with him. "I know what we're going to do."

Blaine led a lethargic Kurt, who was in awe of the selflessness this boy possessed, to the back of the barn. Blaine sat cross-legged on the wooden floor and opened Spike's pen. The tiny lamb didn't move; he simply blinked at Blaine and Kurt, clearly as confused as Kurt was about the chain of events.

"C'mon, Spike," Blaine urged him, speaking in the gentlest tone of voice Kurt had ever heard. "Sit with Kurt, buddy." Blaine pointed to Kurt.

Something in Blaine's voice resonated with Spike, and he tottered unsteadily toward Kurt.

"Spread your legs apart, Kurt," Blaine instructed, still speaking in that soothing tone. "That's it," he said when Kurt complied.

Spike, of his own volition, toddled over and laid down in between Kurt's legs. Timidly, Kurt reached out to pet him, stroking his fur and sighing softly. "He's so soft," Kurt marveled, looking at Blaine with wonder in his eyes.

"He's the youngest lamb," Blaine explained, scooting closer to Kurt and reaching out to pet Spike's head. "The only one born to Lucy and Dumbledore last time. He's an individual, aren't you, buddy?"

Kurt's heart melted at the way Blaine cooed to Spike.

"Spike, this is Kurt," Blaine murmured. "He's our new friend. You were asleep when he fell head over heels for you, little man."

Kurt giggled, wiping away a stray tear. He turned to Blaine, who was looking at him like he wanted to know what was bothering Kurt...like he truly, genuinely cared. Kurt sighed, petting Spike's soft back. The lamb relaxed, leaning his tiny head against Kurt's leg. "I just got dumped over the phone," he told Blaine, whose eyes widened immediately with sympathy. "It wasn't even that bad, really. He still cares about me. He just...he's a bad boy in the purest sense of the word." Kurt chuckled at the term. "He was trouble, and he was bad for me, and he knew it...so he broke up with me. Said it was for my own good. I don't know why I'm so upset; it's not like he screamed at me or said he never loved me. We never actually said that at all, even though we dated for a year."

Blaine scooted even closer to Kurt on the floor of the barn, wrapping an arm solidly around his shoulders. "Still hurts," he muses. "You were with him for a year. It's still going to sting a little bit when you think about it." Blaine leaned his head on Kurt's shoulder. He smiled at Spike, who was staring intently at Kurt with what almost looked like a smile on his face. "You're an amazing person, and you gotta remember that. I'm here for you, Kurt."

"Thank you so much, Blaine," Kurt said, the words heavy with conviction. "And thank you, Spike, you little cutie," Kurt cooed to Spike, scratching lightly behind one ear. Kurt could swear the corners of Spike's little mouth turned up in a smile. He turned his attention back to Blaine. "So, do you have a girlfriend?"

Blaine smiled. "Nope. Not really my thing."

Kurt furrowed his brow. "Dating?"

Blaine smirked. "Girls."

Kurt gasped ever-so-softly, and Blaine couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, stop laughing at me." Kurt rolled his eyes. "So, you're gay, too, huh?"

Blaine nodded, the same smirk back on his face. "As a maypole."

Kurt softened, grasping Blaine's arm lightly. "Are you the only one at your school?"

Blaine nodded solemnly. "I'm out, too. Out and proud on the red side of a blue state. Lucky me."

Kurt made a sympathetic noise. "I'm sorry, Blaine," Kurt murmured. "I think you need to get some Spike time in before we have to go inside."

Blaine smiled as wide as he could, reaching out to pet the baby lamb between Kurt's outstretched legs. "Everyone needs some Spike time."

"For real," Kurt agreed, smiling down at Spike. All the other lambs, sheep, goats and cows had gone to sleep. "This little guy's a miracle worker. I feel so much better."

"It's like I told you, Kurt," Blaine said softly. "Petting a lamb makes all your problems go away, if only for a little while."

Kurt decided not to say anything about Blaine's role in making all his problems go away; it was better for both of them that way.

- - -

As they lay down to sleep later that night, Kurt tossed and turned in his top bunk. He was still shivering, despite having put on a pair of Blaine's sweatpants and his own sweatshirt. He couldn't keep letting the gigantic elephant in the room stand, obtrusive, between him and Blaine. He had to tell him. If the events of the night were any indication, Blaine wouldn't hate him for it. Kurt sat up in bed, ready to confess all.

"Blaine?" Kurt whispered, afraid that he'd already fallen asleep.

"Kurt?" came the reply a few seconds later. "Is everything okay?"

Kurt smiled slightly at Blaine's immediate concern for him. "I—yeah, but I feel like...there's something about me you need to know."

Blaine didn't say anything. Wordlessly, he climbed the ladder and sat next to Kurt.

"What's going on?" Blaine whispered, eyes wide with concern. God, he's beautiful, Kurt thought.

Kurt took a deep breath. "Blaine, do you know why I'm here?"

Blaine shook his head. "Not a specific reason. My dad said you're 'troubled.'"

Kurt chuckled. "I am. I'm troubled, but it's—it's more than that."

Blaine rested a calming hand on Kurt's back when no more words came. "You can tell me."

Kurt looked at Blaine and saw a pillar of strength and solidity in the storm of his life. "Blaine, Sebastian was a little more than a bad boy. He was a drug addict. He treated me right, and I liked the danger, so I started dating him. He never pressured me into doing anything; he'd suggest it, but he never forced me to do anything I didn't want to do." Kurt sniffled, but he wasn't crying. "There wasn't a whole lot I didn't want to do."

"Oh, Kurt," Blaine murmured, wrapping his arms around Kurt, as though he wanted to keep him safe.

"I eventually picked up all of his...'habits,' as he called them," Kurt revealed, causing Blaine to gasp.

"Like...like what?"

Kurt wrapped an arm around Blaine, too, in an attempt to ease his worry. "Alcohol," he began. "Prescription drugs, too. I don't--didn't do as many as him; just Oxy, Valium, and Ativan, mainly."

"Oxy...like OxyContin?" Blaine asked, holding onto Kurt with a slightly looser grip. When Kurt nodded, Blaine revealed that his dad had been prescribed OxyContin for a bad shoulder injury a few months back.

"Oh, God, Blaine, don't say that," Kurt groaned. "I'm trying so hard not to ask if there's any left."

Blaine pulled back immediately, stroking Kurt's back soothingly. "I'm so sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to bring it up. I can imagine it's...hard, being without all that stuff."

Kurt couldn't hold it any longer, and the tears came fast and hot.

"Kurt, I didn't mean to make you cry," Blaine lamented. "You'll get through this. I'll help you. I promise. But...there's no OxyContin left."

"That's okay," Kurt replied. "As long as you help me, I'll be just fine."

Kurt could see Blaine's grin in the moonlight coming through the window. "I'm always here for you," Blaine promised him.

"You're remarkable, Blaine Anderson," Kurt told Blaine. "You've known me for less than a week, and yet, you care so much. You're the sweetest person I've ever met."

The smile Blaine gave Kurt in return for his words was all Kurt needed to know Blaine returned the sentiment.

Nonetheless, Kurt smiled upon hearing the whispered "You deserve it, Kurt" as Blaine descended the ladder and climbed back into his own bed.

Yeah, Kurt thought, laying his head down and closing his eyes. This place is definitely growing on me.