He was terrified.

"Morning, Ladyface," Karofsky growled and Kurt's heart felt like it was fighting to escape through his throat. "I heard that after our little talk last week you went crying to your homo club teacher."

Kurt couldn't breathe. He knew that he was in serious trouble.

"I just came over here to tell you that if I hear that you're talking shit about me again, I'll break all of your pretty little fingers. Got that?"

Kurt nodded and Karofsky shoved him hard against the lockers for good measure. He knew he was going to have bruises the side of Texas on his shoulders the next day and he still shook from the shock of the impact. But what made everything worse was that every single person in the hallway, even those who had seen it happen, pretended that he was invisible. They looked past him, straight through him, but not one of them offered to help.

Kurt tried to compose himself as he made his way to class, realizing just how truly alone he was.

He arrived home completely defeated that day, went straight upstairs and collapsed face-down onto his bed, sobbing into his sheets.

He hated his life. More than anything in the universe. He hated the constant state of fear and anguish, he hated the fact that he couldn't walk down the hallway at school without the fear of being attacked and more than anything he hated that no one really cared.

What was the point? Seriously, what was the point of him being on Earth? If his whole life was just going to be checking around corners to see if the neanderthals were waiting to beat the crap out of him, what was the point of living?

"Kurt?" came the one voice Kurt didn't want to hear then. He was broken enough without having to deal with Blaine and the confusing feelings that came with him.

"Go away, Blaine," said Kurt, more savagely than he meant, and though he wasn't looking, he knew that Blaine was probably now wearing that kicked puppy look he wore so well.

"Kurt, you shouldn't be alone right now. Let me at least just sit with you. We don't have to talk or anything. Just -"

"Blaine, I don't expect you to understand," said Kurt, into his pillow, "but I just need to be alone right now. Completely alone. It's not because of you or anything you've done, I just can't be around anyone right now. I need to process some things. So please, I'm asking you as a friend to respect that."

"Sure. Of course," Blaine said, softly. "But, Kurt, when you're ready to be around people again, please talk to me? You don't have to tell me everything. I just... I really care about you and if something's wrong, I want to know."

Kurt didn't reply, and a few seconds later when he chanced a peek at his room, he saw that Blaine had indeed left him on his own.

He didn't know if it made him feel better or worse.

An hour later found Kurt no longer crying, but not feeling much better. It was as if a giant weight was sitting on his chest and he couldn't shake it off. He tried listening to the Evita soundtrack, which usually made him feel miles better, but it did nothing to improve his mood today.

He looked up and saw Blaine peering around the corner, looking hesitant to disturb.

"It's okay, Blaine," he said, and Blaine came over and sat silently next to him on the bed. He sat twirling the corner of one of Kurt's throw pillows. They sat like that for a few moments before something Kurt had been meaning to ask for a while was suddenly spilling from his mouth. "Blaine, how come you can touch pretty much everything in my room but we can't touch at all?"

Blaine raised his eyebrows, surprised by the question, but gave Kurt a small smile and explained.

"Well, it's easiest for me to phase through things, but I learned pretty quickly that if I concentrated hard enough, I could touch objects and make them move. It's weird though, because I don't really feel it. Anyway, for whatever reason, it seems I can't do it with anything living. So I can't even touch plants."

"Oh," said Kurt, looking down at his feet, not really sure what else to say. It further confirmed his belief that Blaine could never truly be happy where he was. What was a world without feeling? He looked at Blaine who was now searching his face with a concerned expression. Kurt decided to change track. "Sorry about earlier."

"It's okay," said Blaine with a reassuring smile. "I get it."

And that was all that was said on the subject. Kurt didn't reply and after a few minutes of awkward silence, Blaine cleared his throat.

"So what if we, you know, instead of sitting here awkwardly just did something like watch a movie or that dress show you like so much?"

Kurt smiled. Blaine seemed to always know exactly what to say.

"It's Say Yes to the Dress: Bridesmaids and it's not just a dress show, it's the dress show," he said, wishing he could nudge Blaine's shoulder slightly and quite annoyed that he couldn't. Blaine chuckled as Kurt went to get his laptop out.

Just as Kurt had pressed play, the doorbell downstairs rang.

"I think you might have to get that," said Blaine and Kurt tossed a pillow at him. He expected it to phase straight through him and was surprised when it actually hit him and bounced off down the side of the bed. Kurt raised an eyebrow and Blaine grinned. "I deserved that."

Kurt laughed as he made his way downstairs to see who was at his door at such a weird time of the afternoon. Finn still had football practice and his dad and Carole were still at work. When he reached the second landing the doorbell started ringing frantically as if someone was leaning against the button impatiently.

Ah, thought Kurt.

"Rachel Berry if you wait a goddamned minute, I will open the door for you," yelled Kurt before flinging the door open to confirm his suspicions. Rachel was indeed standing there with two cups of coffee and a puzzled expression.

"Oh, but you're not sad," said Rachel.

"Rachel, there's a difference between not crying and not being sad," said Kurt with a slight crease in his brow. Rachel looked immediately repentant.

"I'm so sorry Kurt," she said. "You're right, I shouldn't just assume. I - I heard what happened at school today and I... I guess since I thought we were friends now, I..."

"Rach, come inside," said Kurt with a sigh and a small smile. Rachel Berry would take a while to get used to, but he couldn't deny that her heart was in the right place. They made their way upstairs and Blaine couldn't resist messing around with Rachel for a bit.

"Blaine! Rachel is here. Are you decent?" he asked loudly as he knocked on the door.

"Almost!" Blaine shouted back and Rachel looked completely horrified.

"Kurt! You're not...? How?"

"Relax, drama queen. We're messing with you," said Kurt, opening the door to reveal a Blaine barely containing his laughter.

"I thought you were from the fifties?" said Rachel turning to the ghost and cocking an eyebrow. She was clearly not as amused as her friends were.

"You think the fifties were really as vanilla as they make them out to be?" said Blaine with a slight chuckle and Rachel's cheeks filled with color. Kurt cleared his throat loudly to dispel the awkwardness and announced that the Say Yes to the Dress marathon was about to begin. Rachel squealed happily and Kurt beamed. Maybe she wasn't as bad as he had originally suspected.

Kurt lay on his front in between Rachel and Blaine and it was honestly the strangest sensation. He could feel Rachel - feel their arms uncomfortably pressed against each other as they all tried to watch the same tiny screen - but with Blaine, who was so close that he phased into Kurt every now and then, he couldn't feel a thing. All those things he had seen in movies about that icy feeling whenever a ghost was near seemed to be completely untrue. It didn't feel like anything at all. If he didn't feel the sinking weight of the bed next to him and he didn't turn to stare at him happily every now and then, he wouldn't even know Blaine was there.

Feeling is how you know you're alive, thought Kurt to himself. To not have that must be a constant reminder that you're not. However painful they may be, feelings are a part of being human.

Kurt wondered if Blaine still felt human, realizing he didn't know what he would do or say if the answer was no.

He felt now more than ever that he needed to help Blaine. He needed Blaine to be free. To be happy. He couldn't bear the thought of Blaine being stuck in some kind of hell. He, of all people, deserved more.

Later that night, as Blaine crooned him to sleep as he loved to do, Kurt texted his newly elected partner in crime.

To: Rachel; From: Kurt (10:27 pm)
Tomorrow you and me have a date with the library. I consider this the first test of our newly established friendship.

To: Rachel; From: Kurt (10:28 pm)
Thanks again for today. Sweet dreams :)

And for the first time in a long time, despite the all that had happened that day, Kurt slept peacefully, dreaming of a dark-haired boy with big hazel eyes just laughing without a care in the world.

Kurt would give anything for that dream to come true.