When Blaine woke the next morning it was to an empty bed. He lay there, grief stricken, wondering if Kurt had upped and left early, or if it had all been one elaborate dream. No, he thought, he could still smell a foreign scent on the sheets next to him, a scent that stirred fond emotions.
He sniffed, inhaling deeply. He couldn't describe the smell laced into his pillows but there was an underlying scent of coffee. Coffee!
Yanking his body upright, Blaine tried his hardest not to run from the room, his stomach doing little back flips of joy when he saw Kurt's lean form shuffling around the kitchen sleepily, carefully placing mugs on the counter before filling them with dark brown liquid.
"Morning." He said when Kurt had replaced the coffee pot. The pale man jumped, as Blaine had expected, and turned to face him with a timid smile.
"Morning."Picking up a mug in each hand, Kurt moved forward to give one to Blaine, who accepted it with a murmured 'thanks'.
They drank for a moment in silence, eyes meeting occasionally over the rims of their cups.
"Do you want to do something today?" Blaine asked, wondering if he could just casually slip into dating Kurt without having to explicitly ask him on a date, but Kurt's face fell slightly.
"Oh, um yeah. I guess I should get out of here. I could find a motel or something to stay in till I land on my feet or... something. " Blaine frowned for a moment till he realised how Kurt had interpreted his words.
"NO!" He almost shouted. "I mean, um, you don't have to go anywhere. I just meant we could go see a movie or go shopping or something. You don't have to leave." Please don't leave he stopped himself from adding. He didn't want to scare Kurt off by being too forward.
Kurt just stared at him for a moment, his piercing gaze making Blaine feel more exposed than if he had been naked. Eventually it seemed like Blaine's words got through to him. He set his mug very precisely on the counter before turning back to Blaine and throwing his arms around his neck.
He clung to Blaine tightly and, as soon as he overcame the shock, Blaine lifted his arms to wrap around his waist.
They hugged for a while, enjoying the warmth they'd shared all night, and when they pulled back Kurt had tears in his eyes, a real grin spread across his face.
"Thank you Blaine. Thank you so much! You're the nicest person I've ever met!"
It was the first time Blaine had seen Kurt smile properly, a true, blinding grin, and he barely even registered Kurt's words as he took in the full beauty that stood before him.
Looking back on it he thought his brain must have short-circuited because what he did next was not like anything he'd done before.
Without pausing to think about how Kurt might react, or if it was the right time, Blaine leaned forward and pressed his lips to Kurt's. The kiss was short and sweet but it set Blaine's whole body on fire.
He pulled back slowly, realising too late that what he had just done was foolish, but he had barely caught a glimpse of Kurt's shocked face before there were arms around his neck and Kurt was kissing him passionately. At first his brain was too shocked to respond, but after a second his lips moved of their own accord and he lifted his hands to pull Kurt tightly against his body.
Their lips moved roughly together and Blaine thought he would pass out from the noise Kurt made when he bit down on his lower lip.
He thought they probably could have made out forever, but a loud banging on the door snapped them back to their surroundings and they broke apart, both a little pink in the cheeks.
"KURT!" Came a deep shout from outside the door. "Kurt I know you're in there!"
Blaine turned to Kurt to find him ashen and shaking, his lips trembling as they tried to form words.
"Kurt, who is that?" Blaine murmured quickly, though he thought he already knew the answer and he didn't like it.
"I-it's him. It's Dave. He found me." Kurt voice was high and terrified, tears were already streaming down his face, and he jumped violently when a heavy body slammed into the door.
The stood huddled together in the kitchen for a moment longer till the next slam of a body into the door flipped something in Blaine's head. No matter what happened, this man could not get to Kurt.
"Kurt, go lock yourself in the bathroom." Blaine instructed, cringing as the front door creaked under the force of the assault.
"What? I, no... I c-can't leave you." He shook his head and grabbed a fistful of Blaine's shirt, as if to show his unwillingness to be separated. "You don't what he can do."
The words sent fear sliding into Blaine's stomach but it was nothing compared to the fear he felt when he thought of Kurt and the man outside being in the same room.
"Kurt, I can take care of myself, it's you he's after so go and hide. Now!" He added, shoving Kurt in the direction of the bedroom when he still didn't move.
The door was close to finished and Blaine had nothing to defend himself with, he merely hoped that he could lie his way out of this situation.
As the door burst in Blaine had a horrible moment where all he could see was the toilet cubicle he had taken refuge in when he was fifteen and hiding from bullies. That door had burst inwards in exactly the same way and panic threatened to suffocate him as he fought off the memory.
The man in the doorway was massive. Not only was he at least a foot taller than Blaine, but he was also about three times as wide. He pushed into the room past the broken door and straight up to Blaine, getting right in his face.
"Where is he?" He growled, eyes darting around the room as he grabbed a fistful of Blaine's shirt. The gesture made him think of Kurt doing it just a minute previously. How differently the same thing could be interpreted when done in a slightly different way.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Blaine fought hard to keep the quiver out of his voice, looking straight into the hulking man's small grey eyes.
"Don't lie to me." He sneered. "I heard you talking to someone and now it's just you. Where's he hiding?"
"I-it was the TV." He cursed the stutter in his voice, wishing his mind would stop replaying clips from the aftermath of his Sadie Hawkins dance.
Dave's eyes travelled over the room again, this time with more scrutiny, and Blaine saw the exact moment the lighted upon the two coffee mugs sitting side-by-side on the counter. Releasing Blaine's shirt he strolled over to the innocent looking crockery and picked up Kurt's mug, studying it like an inquisitive child.
"You always have two cups of coffee in the morning?" He sneered, throwing the mug up and catching it again, a few drops of warm brown liquid spraying out.
"No, my... girlfriend was here. She had some coffee and left about an hour ago." Blaine gulped nervously, not liking the sound of the porcelain smacking against his palm.
"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Dave suddenly roared, drawing back his arm, he launching the mug at Blaine.
Blaine ducked, but he wasn't quite fast enough. The hard mug caught the side of his head, the blow sending him stumbling back as his vision swam a little.
"I KNOW HE'S HERE! My mate lives across the road and he saw my boyfriend walking around in here this morning!" He thundered towards Blaine, grabbing the front of his shirt again and shoving him against the wall. "Tell me where he is or I will break you." He hissed, right in Blaine's ear.
"No." Blaine made sure he voice was steady this time, and he was almost prepared for the blow that landed on his gut. But that didn't make it hurt any less.
He clutched his stomach as the wind flew out of him, gasping in again quickly when Dave's fist hit his jaw. He grunted in pain as another blow hit his diaphragm, and struggled for a moment to suck in air.
Dave pushed him harder against the wall.
"Where is he?" He growled.
"I don't know." Blaine tried to growl back, but the effect was slightly ruined by the pant in his voice.
"Wrong answer." This time the blow to his gut made his stomach twist and he thought he might throw up. Dave let go of his shirt and he crumpled to the ground in time for a heavy foot to swing into his side.
"WHERE IS HE!?!" Dave screamed, leaning down and lifting Blaine's torso of the floor by his shirt.
"He..." Blaine coughed as the movement of his lungs made them burn. "He left. Said something about a motel last night and this morning he was gone."
Dave dropped his shirt and stood up, he fists balled in anger.
"You should have said so sooner, you stupid wanker." He turned to head for the door but then something seemed to hit him. "Did you sleep with him?"
"What? NO!" Blaine cried but he already knew it was pointless.
"You lying piece of shit! How dare you touch him! HE'S MINE!" Turning back to Blaine he struck out. Again and again. Kicking and hitting and yelling endless insults.
Blaine curled into a ball, trying his hardest to protect himself but the onslaught kept coming, soon there ware images flashing behind his eyelids. A guy at middle school who flushed his belongings down the loo, three thugs beating the crap out of him and the only other gay guy at his school as they waited for his dad, coming home to find insults written on his living room wall and knowing the only person who could get in without breaking the lock was his landlord. The scenes kept flashing through his mind and he felt his chest constrict with panic and terror.
Eventually, the images faded, the kicking stooped and Blaine though he heard someone sobbing as everything went dark.

"Oh god Blaine, wake up. I'm so sorry. Please, just wake up. Please." The broken voice dissolved into broken sobs as Blaine searched to find a way to open his eyes. Eventually he found his eyelids, and with them returned the rest of his body. For a moment he wished he hadn't surfaced because the pain was unbearable.
Opening his eyes he groaned and a blurred figure appeared right above him.
"Blaine? Blaine, I'm here, look at me Blaine, he's gone."
Blaine opened his eyes fully and the blurry figure turned into Kurt, kneeling next to his head and leaning over to look him in the eye.
"Oh thank god!" Kurt leaned forward, pressing his lips to Blaine's forehead.
"Kurt. Are you okay?" Blaine croaked.
"I'm fine." Kurt's voice shook. "Thanks to you. Anyway, it's you we should be worried about."
Blaine lay still as gentle fingers caressed the place on his chin where Dave had punched him. It was probably black and blue by now.
"How did you stand getting hit like that every day?" Blaine lifted his arm slowly, running his fingertips over the slightly yellowing bruise around Kurt's eye.
"It was just the odd slap now and then. The first time he punched me was the day I left." Blaine really wanted to kiss Kurt in that moment, or at least hold him, but the even the thought of movement made his body throb painfully.
Closing his eyes he focused on the soothing feel of Kurt's cool fingers on his jaw, until they left. His eyes snapped open as he felt the same gentle fingers pushing up the hem of his shirt.
His eyes darted to Kurt, but he wasn't looking at Blaine's face. He was frowning down at the skin being revealed as he pushed the material up Blaine's stomach. After a second of two he seemed to find what he was looking for, and let out a dry sob, his hands moving to cover his face.
Looking down Blaine saw that his stomach and sides were a collage of mottled purple bruises. He sighed at the sight. Of course, he'd had worse but he'd thought that part of his life was over.
Gently pushing himself into sitting position, he sucked in a breath through his teeth as pain shot through his ribs, breathing through the discomfort and rubbing carefully at his side.
Kurt was full out weeping next to him, so he laid a gentle hand on his arm.
"Kurt. It's really not that bad. I've had worse. Please look at me Kurt." Two wide blue eyes appeared between Kurt's slender fingers, red and swollen from all the crying he'd been doing. "Honestly, it looks worse than it is." He shifted to sit cross-legged opposite Kurt, wincing a little at the ache in his limbs.
"It's all my fault." Kurt's whisper was muffled by his hands but Blaine still heard him.
"No." He said sternly. "None of this is your fault. If I hadn't been willing to fight for you, to get hurt for you, then I wouldn't have stayed out here to face him. Please Kurt, you've got to believe me when I say that this isn't your fault."
Kurt slowly lowered his hands, wide eyes full of sorrow.
"I should go Blaine. If any one sees me here then we're both screwed." He made to get up but Blaine reach out, gripping his arm and holding him in place.
"I don't want you to go Kurt. Stay with me. Please stay." Their gazes locked, and blue eyes searched hazel before Kurt nodded slowly.
They spent the day curled up together in bed, all the curtains closed to block out the world. Kurt grabbed the extra pillows and blankets from the living room and they made a kind of fort, a safe place for them to cuddle while they fantasised about what they would do if they had all the money and time and freedom they could ask for. They shared their wildest dreams and long languid kisses, and when at last night fell, they held each other tight to ward off the nightmares.