The next week passed by with ease for Kurt. Classes let out early on Tuesday to allow students who needed to travel for the holidays plenty of time to get home so he had time to pack. On top of that, he hadn't had any more surprise abilities pop up since that last Thursday. On Wednesday, his father showed up around 10:00 and helped Kurt load his luggage before they set off for Lima. As they drove out of the giant wrought-iron gates, Kurt felt a light tug on his heart. A sudden sadness washed over him as he realized he would be gone for a week from the one place he felt accepted. This sadness was followed by relief at the idea of being able to forget all of the confusing things happening to his body recently. "It's like puberty all over again…" Kurt had thought the other day.

The drive back to Lima didn't take very long and before he knew it, Kurt was being greeted cheerily by Finn and Carole as his father carried his suitcase up to his room. At dinner they chatted about how Kurt was enjoying Dalton as he explained The Warbler's and described all of his friends— leaving out the small detail that he now had a boyfriend.

After dinner, Kurt helped Carole wash and put away dishes, before deciding to call it a night. When he went up to his room to get ready for bed, he found everything in exactly the same place he had left it just a little over a month before. After his shower, Kurt climbed into his neatly made bed and sighed at the feeling of his silk designer sheets and the familiar scent of laundry detergent before peacefully drifting off to sleep.

Thanksgiving passed in a blur for Kurt as he spent a large portion of the morning in the kitchen with Carole preparing dozens of traditional holiday dishes. It was their first holiday together since Carole and Burt had gotten married and Kurt could tell that she felt pressured to insure that everything went smoothly. After hours of hard work, they were finally able to sit down at the table as a family and enjoy the plentiful meal that was splayed out before them.

The food was delicious, of course, and Kurt helped Carole clear off the table while Burt and Finn ran to the living room to turn on the game. Around 7:00 after they had finished cleaning up, Carole joined the boys on the couch while Kurt stepped out for a walk and decided to call Blaine and wish him a happy holiday. He dialed the number as he set off down the sidewalk and Blaine picked up before he'd made it out of the yard.

"Hey"

"Hey" a grin was plastered on Kurt's face at just hearing the sound of his voice.

"How have you been?"

"Good. Nothing…new has sprung up yet so that's always good." Kurt sighed and he heard Blaine chuckle lightly at the other end of the line.

"Well, my day has been fairly eventful. Nick and Jeff stopped by around 1 to…" Blaine continued talking but Kurt was no longer listening as he saw the hulking figure that was walking towards him at the other end of the street. The figure wearing a McKinley letterman jacket and that same, furious look he'd had on his face the last day Kurt had seen him; the last day Kurt had been enrolled at McKinley. "…Kurt? Are you okay?" he didn't answer Blaine, "Kurt!"

"It's him" the words came out as a whisper that Blaine almost didn't catch.

"It's who? Kurt, you're really starting to worry me."

The figure was looming closer to him and the streets suddenly appeared darker and empty. It felt like they were the only two people for miles. Kurt's stomach clenched, "Blaine, I'm scared..."

"Kurt, what is going on?" he only whimpered in response, "That's it! I'm coming to get you. Where are you?"

"Two blocks f..from my house. Cedar St." Kurt stammered.

"Alright, I'm already in my car and I'm punching it into my GPS. I'll be there in 15 minutes!"

"It won't make a difference…" But it was too late as Kurt heard the click on the other line as Blaine hung up. Kurt exhaled roughly and realized he'd been holding his breath. He closed his eyes and willed himself the strength to face his tormentor. "Maybe he'll just keep walking and will ignore me." Kurt knew there wasn't a chance in hell that was going to happen.

He began to walk a little faster and forced his eyes to look straight ahead and not trail across the road to where Karofsky was walking. His eyes betrayed him though and when they met Karofsky's, both of them froze in place for the briefest of moments before Karofsky began to march across the street in Kurt's direction.

"Oh shit…" Kurt's brain immediately flew into panic mode and he continued walking down the street, hoping that if he ignored Karofsky he would lose interest. He didn't.

Kurt felt a rough hand grab his shoulder and pull him back. He couldn't stop the tears that sprang to his eyes, "Just leave me alone!" he screamed at his assailant as he shrugged off his hand, "Haven't you done enough already?"

He heard a sharp intake of breath as he spun around to face Karofsky, tears streaming down his face. "Listen fairy, I don't know what they've been teaching you at that freak school you transferred to, but around here we still show respect to hour superiors." Karofsky shoved Kurt.

"Get off of me!" Kurt shoved Karofsky back and he felt a flash of the emotion he felt the day Karofsky kissed him in the locker room. Kurt's cheeks burned life fire and bile began to rise in his throat at the memory.

"That's it! I'm just going to have to teach you a lesson, aren't I faggot?" Karofsky cracked his knuckles. Kurt's legs locked, determined to stand his ground against his tormentor for once. Karofsky stepped forward to swing and his fist met with Kurt's right cheek bone, knocking him onto the pavement. Karofsky bent over to grab a fistful of the collar of Kurt's shirt and grab him to the ground before punching him in the gut. The air rushed out of Kurt as he groaned and Karofsky laughed in his ear. "I hope you haven't told anyone you disgusting piece of shit, or this won't be the worst I'll do to you." Karofsky's hold on Kurt tightened as he pulled back to punch him again, this time his fist colliding with Kurt's hands that were flickering with flames.

"Ahh!" Karofsky jumped back, clutching his slightly singed hand. as Kurt slid to the ground limply. "You burned me you fucking freak?"

Kurt chuckled darkly as he slowly stood up and brushed of his clothes, "And that's not the worst I'm going to do to you." A sudden darkness surged through Kurt. He felt power and hate as he glared down at Karofsky. He was about to finally get his revenge and it was going to be glorious.

Kurt took a step towards him and flicked out his wrists, flames suddenly enveloped his hands and Karofsky whimpered. Kurt tossed a ball of fire in his direction and was shocked as it bounced back, never getting closer than a few feet from Karofsky.

"What the hell?" Kurt took a step back in shock. Karofsky's face looked broken and vulnerable. It dawned on Kurt that his sexual preference wasn't the only thing Karofsky was hypocritical about. He attempted to toss another flame in his direction experimentally to find that it too bounced off of the invisible force field. "It's almost like a…"

"A shield." Kurt said in a breathless whisper, his eyes wide as everything began to sink in. He thought back to the day in the locker room when Karofsky had kissed him; the shock and confusion that had washed over him, the waves of confusion that were rolling off of Karofsky, the…contact. "Oh my god…"

"It was you…" Karofsky stood and brushed himself off. His hand snapped out to his side an iridescent, glowing ball appeared and he flung it at Kurt. He threw up his hand to block his face and waited for the impact, but it never came. Kurt opened his eyes and saw that there was a glowing orb surrounding his body that made everything outside of it appear slightly fuzzy.

Karofsky took a step back at the sight of someone else using his power. Kurt straightened up as a new found confidence surged through his veins. Without warning, the force field surrounding Kurt burst into flames before settling to a light flicker that enveloped the ball. Karofsky stumbled backwards and tripped over a broken bottle, landing on the curb with a solid thud. He climbed to his feet and, with one last horrified look at Kurt, bolted back down the street in the direction he had come from.

Kurt turned and watched the lettermen jacket disappear around the corner before he let out a sigh of relief, the shield around him fading. He felt the blood trailing down his right cheek from the cut just under his eye, which was now swelling shut. He couldn't stop the tears that were welling up in his eyes as he sank down to sit on the street curb.

Kurt heard the sound of tires peeling around the corner and the screech of rubber on asphalt as the car stopped in front of him. The driver's door flew open and Blaine rushed out to Kurt's side and pulled him into his arms. Kurt curled into Blaine's warm body and cried until the tears stopped flowing and he was left hiccupping, trying to restore his breathing to normal. Blaine stood, pulling Kurt up with him and helping him into the passenger's side of the car before going around to the driver's seat. The car ride to Kurt's house was spent in silence, their hands tightly clasped across the dash. Kurt needed this support and was ever thankful to have a boyfriend who gave it to him, especially now when he needed it more than ever.