Kurt didn’t remain a second more in Blaine’s room, he quickly fled home calling his father.

Burt was on the couch and when he saw his son in tears he got frightened. Kurt threw himself into his arms and wept until he was exhausted. Burt didn’t ask him what had happened, he had seen him leave to go to Blaine’s, so he could only guess that there was something between them. But, for the moment, he asked nothing and, when bed-time arrived and Kurt asked him if he could sleep in his father’s bed with him, Burt could not say no.

***

The following morning Blaine was on the porch hoping to see Kurt. He wouldn’t give up so easily; he wanted to know Kurt’s real intentions.

When his father, Richard, came out, he saw his son shivering with cold. “Son, you’re going to be late!” he said putting a hat on Blaine’s head.

“I’m waiting for Kurt” the boy said without looking at him. His eyes pointing the Hummel’s door.

“Maybe he is not going to school, it’s very late. Come, I’m giving you a lift.”
Blaine snorted getting in the car.

“What’s up?” Richard asked starting the engine of the car and heading to school.

“Kurt says he doesn’t want to be friends anymore, and I don’t know why…”

Richard frowned his eyebrows “Why? You’re such good friends.”

“I really don’t know.”

His dad looked at him and smiled, “I hope everything will go for the best, he’s such a good boy. Why don’t you go cut you hair today?” he asked messing with his hair, but Blaine shook his head.

“Kurt likes it” he answered frowning. That made his dad laugh.

“Thirteen and already in love” he stated laughing and making Blaine blush.

The Andersons had always accepted their son’s homosexuality. He hadn’t even needed to come out to them, they had always known.

When they reached the school Blaine climbed out of the car still angry.

“Blaine! Your glasses!” Richard shouted to make his son coming back.

“I don’t need them.”

“Stop complaining and wear them! You’re a disaster when you read. Now hurry up to class, boy.”

“Bye dad!” Blaine said before walking into the building.

***

After the first two hours of lesson Blaine left his class hoping to meet Kurt at History. But luck had the better on him: Kurt was at his locker tacking the books.

“Hey Kurt! Wait!” Blaine tried to reach him but fell to the ground because fell to the ground because someone made him trip, dropping his glasses and his books.

“Oh look! Our lady wears glasses too.” said  Stephan, one of the bullies who picked on him.

Blaine collected his books rapidly and stood up under the jocks’ amused eyes and Kurt’s worried ones.

“Give them back to me! They’re new, my dad will get furious if I break  them!” for the first time, Kurt saw him really angry.

“What is he going to do?” he asked dropping the glasses and stepping on them.

Both Blaine and Kurt were shocked.

“You’re an idiot!” Blaine shouted pushing Stephan, who was twice his size.

“Anderson, to the principal. Now!” a professor shouted.

“But I haven’t done anything.” the boy tried to explain.

“No excuses. Follow me.”

Stephan smirked and looked at Blaine. He didn’t even bother to pick up his glasses and followed the teacher.

When everybody was gone, Kurt stepped forward and took them. The damage was not that bad. He searched inside his locker, found the glue and repaired the object.

He took them to his lesson but Blaine didn’t show up, so he went to the other boy’s locker and, knowing his combination, opened it and left the glasses on the middle shelf. Then he ran away.

***

When Matt came back home, he ran to the garage because of the noises that came from the inside.

“What the hell is going on?” Matt froze in front of the malicious smile on Blaine’s face and his bike in pieces. “What have you done?” he asked pointing at his brother’s bleeding hand.

“Now Kurt will talk to me because he’s got to repair it” he answered proud of himself.

Matt shook his had and took him inside to disinfect the cut.

“Blaine, stop being so stupid. Mom and dad will get angry.”
“BUT KURT DOESN’T SPEAK TO ME!” Blaine shouted bursting into tears.

“Come on, you’ve got so many friends.”
“No Matt! He’s my super-mega-extra-best friend!”

Matt rolled his eyes. “Go! Before dad comes back.” he told him.

Blaine hugged his brother, took his bike and ran to Kurt’s window.

“Kurt! Please, I need your help!” he shouted looking at the window hoping to see it opening.

“Kurt, my bike is broken! I need you to help me repair it. Please!”

Nothing. Nothing happened simply because Kurt was not at home. Blaine sat in the garden looking at Kurt’s window until his mother called him for dinner.

***

In the meantime, Kurt was at the old lady’s house that lived across the street.

“So, you don’t want to be his friend anymore because you’re afraid they’re going to hurt him?” recapitulated the woman sipping her tea. “Boy, you’re big enough to face these problems. It’s not avoiding them that will make them disappear.”

“But at my school they pick on him just because of me. It’s not right.”

The lady put his cup on the coffee table.

“You really like this guy, uh?”

Kurt nodded, without any doubt. It was true. He loved Blaine.

“And you prefer the both of you to suffer and avoid each other? Kurt, don’t be silly. I saw you two playing together. You’re so cute.”

Kurt gave a shrug. Even if she were right, she didn’t know what living in that school was.

“It’s time for me to go. I’ve got to go make dinner. Thanks for everything.” Kurt covered the woman with a blanket and left.

He approached quickly his house and took the keys from his pocket.

“Kurt! Hey Kurt!”

The boy clenched his fists by his sides. He would never treat him badly, Blaine didn’t deserve it, he had always been kind to him.

“Blaine, please, go away.” he said trying to be harsh, but he didn’t succeed.

“No, wait! You’ve got to repair my bike, I even hurt myself using it!”

Kurt turned and looked at Blaine’s hand, noting the various patches and a swollen finger.

“Did you fall?” he asked, his hard face dropping immediately echoing his concern.

“Well…actually…” Blaine ran a hand through his hair “I broke it so that you had to adjust it.”

Kurt was petrified. He was trying to understand what his friend was telling him. Once again he showed himself for what he really was: a very affectionate boy.

“Damn it, Blaine! Why won’t   you understand? Those curls are blocking your brain to work properly?”

“But you like the-”

“NO! I don’t! I don’t like your curls and, above all, I don’t like you! I’m tired of having you around me, like a needy dog.”

When his eyes met Blaine’s ones he felt like dying. He understood he had been too harsh when he saw those hazel eyes misted with tears.

“No, wait Blaine, I didn’t mean –”

But he couldn’t finish because Blaine interrupted him.

“I hate you Kurt Hummel.”

And those were the last words Blaine told him.

*************
* 3 years later *

*************

It was December and Christmas was already over. Kurt was in his room with Rachel and they had been staring at his wardrobe for about half an hour.

“Come on Kurt! Why aren’t these okay?”

Kurt rolled his eyes and turned to look at his friend.

“I don’t understand why I called you to give me fashion advices. I might be sick” he sighed removing a shirt from the hanger.

 “No, you called me because I’m your only friend, since it has always been just the two of us in our group of friends. Well, we are a duo, a group should have at least three members.”  the girl answered bitterly turning a tie in her hands.

“The truth is that I don’t wanna come to this party, Rachel. Can’t I have a New Year’s Eve with my family?”
“Kurt, you’re seventeen, for Barbra’s sake! You should try to let it off. We never go out and I told that there will be this guy that I really like.”

Kurt pulled that tie away from her hands. She was torturing it.

“Yeah, I know. Finn Hudson. I think my dad is dating his mom.”

Rachel jumped off the bed squeaking, “You see? Surely we’ll both find topics to talk about. There will be alcohol and we’ll have someone to bring us home, so we won’t have to worry about the driving.”

“The whole school will be there!” he pointed out.

“It’s true. But it’s enough for you to avoid the jocks…”

“You make that easy! A few nights ago I had a nightmare where they were teasing me in the cafeteria, and you know what? It became true. I don’t know if you remember Stephan making me slip with my tray full of stuff!” a defeated Kurt slumped on his bed sighing.

He knew the reason he didn’t want to go to the party was another. He was afraid of meeting him.

Him, who he saw everyday in the hallways and lowered his eyes not to cross his own.

Him, who sat at the popular kids’ table at lunch and they always gave him an encouraging pat on his back.

Him, who a few years ago shouted at Kurt that he hated him.

And Kurt, after all, was happy about it. Because, even if they were still throwing him in the dumpster and pushing him against the lockers, Blaine was safer than he was with him. They didn’t laughed at him or steal his lunch anymore. Just because he wasn’t in Kurt’s company anymore and Blaine’s happiness was the only thing that gave him the strength to remain in that school.