Yes, I think I'm okay

Walked into the door again,

If you ask, that's what I'll say

and it's not your business anyway.

--------

"Congratulations class of 2013!"

Caps went flying in the air, accompanied with screams and the occasional bra (Kurt was going to blame that one on Santana and Brittany). He turned to his boyfriend, squeezing his hand tightly.

"Bring on New York."

Blaine grinned, pulling Kurt into a passionate kiss. They ignored the catcalls and jeers from the rest of the year; they never had to see any of those people ever again. Kurt pulled away, smiling as Finn came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"If you're done eating Blaine's face, we're off to Breadstix. You know, last New Directions meal and all that."

Kurt ignored the sting of tears in his eyes and nodded ferociously, earning a few odd glances from Finn and Blaine. As they were walking towards the car, Blaine leant towards his boyfriend and whispered in his ear.

"Are you ok?"

Kurt nodded, trying to hold back tears.

"I'm just going to miss them all so much."

Blaine's face softened, and he wrapped an arm around his boyfriend. "It'll be ok, I promise. We've got all summer to spend with them, and we'll speak to them all the time. And soon, we'll have moved to the Big Apple! Just picture it. It's going to be totally awesome."

Kurt rolled his eyes, laughing at his boyfriend's dorkiness. Of course it would be totally awesome.

The car ride to Breadstix passed in a blur of excited chatter, ranging from how hideous Mr Schue's vest was for graduation to the hilarity of someone hacking into the graduation slideshow and playing Coach Sylvester's 'Physical' video (Kurt had his bets on Lauren, although she wouldn't admit to it). Soon, they were pulling into the Breadstix car park for the last time. As shitty as the food often was there, Kurt would miss the endless meetings here. It held a lot of memories for him.

The rest of New Directions were already there, chatting away as per usual. Kurt and Blaine slid into the empty seats beside Mercedes, and Kurt was immediately enveloped in a hug.

"White boy, don't think you've seen the last of me. I will be coming to New York to see you constantly, you do know that?"

Kurt laughed. "I wouldn't expect anything else. Anyway, you'll be in Jersey… It's not exactly far."

Mercedes punched him lightly on the shoulder, before looking past Kurt to Blaine.

"Take care of my boo, Anderson. Or…"

"I will cut you!" chorused the rest of New Directions, Kurt included. Everyone laughed, and began to order their food.

Kurt looked round the table at the animated conversations. Puck and Lauren were betting on how many times Santana and Brittany managed to get free food. Both of the ex cheerleaders were going to UCLA, whereas Puck and Lauren were staying in Lima. He hoped Puck would keep an eye on his Dad for him; they'd always had a good friendship. Artie was off to Lake Washington Technical College, on a scholarship no less. Kurt always suspected he would do something in computing. Quinn was off to the University of Kentucky, near to Sam at Columbus. Even though the two were no longer dating, Kurt was sure they would stay in touch. It always helped to have people you knew in new places. Tina and Mike were setting up their own dance academy in Lima, and were planning on getting married shortly after they'd set it up. Rachel and Finn were off to New York with Kurt and Blaine. For some reason, Finn was determined to continue his relationship with the slightly insane girl, and was setting up his own music shop in the Big Apple, and of course, Rachel was pursuing her Broadway dreams.

Everyone was growing up. It was kinda scary to see all his friends going to college, and moving out and even getting married. Blaine squeezed his boyfriend's hand as he saw the sentimental look on his face. The New Directions were practically Kurt's family; heck, they'd even become his family since he transferred for his senior year. Kurt smiled gratefully at his boyfriend before joining Rachel in a debate of Wicked vs Gypsy.

Once everyone had scarfed their food (and Finn eaten the leftovers), everyone began to plan their next destination. Club or bar? Kurt and Blaine both looked at in other in conformation. They didn't want to go to either; they were pretty exhausted from the celebrations, and had to get up early to go to IKEA (Decorating their new home was stressful stuff). Kurt turned to Finn with his puppy dog eyes on.

"Finn, we're exhausted. Can we go home now? Pretty please?"

Finn rolled his eyes. The puppy dog eyes did not work on him.

"I'm not going home, but you can take my car. I'll ride with Rachel."

Kurt smiled gratefully, making goodbyes to the rest of the club. He promised to have a giant party before he and Blaine left for New York, and promised the girls shopping trips. With that, the two boys left the restaurant hand in hand.

Just as Kurt was getting the keys out of his pocket, someone grabbed him roughly from behind. Before he had the chance to scream, a meaty hand was placed over his mouth, practically suffocating him. He looked around to see Blaine in a similar position, with a tall beefy man wearing a balaclava wrenching his arms behind his back. Blaine's eyes were filled with fear, and Kurt internally swore at the position that they so often found themselves in.

The two men dragged Kurt and Blaine into an alleyway beside Breadstix and threw them onto the ground, before smashing both of their phones. They had no way of contact. Blaine reached out and grabbed Kurt's hand, comforting him. Kurt hadn't even realized that tears were pouring down his cheeks. Both of the boys stood above the two, before ripping off their balaclavas.

Karofsky and Azimio. What a surprise. Azimio bent down towards Blaine until he was practically an inch away from him.

"We saw your kiss today, homos. You think we want to watch you two? You think it doesn't make us feel sick? I hope you both get AIDS and die." He spat in Blaine's face, and the boy recoiled in disgust.

Before Kurt could stop him, Blaine lifted up one foot and jammed it straight into Azimio's crotch. The bully grimaced, before lunging for Blaine. What, did he have balls of steel all of a sudden? Even Karofsky looked confused, and Azimio looked up grinning.

"I'm wearing a cup."

If Kurt hadn't been so terrified, he might have laughed, but Azimio was now holding Blaine's arm at a very uncomfortable angle, laughing menacingly. Plucking up all the courage he could muster, Kurt screamed at the bully.

"Let him go!"

Azimio met Kurt's eyes and sneered, before wrenching Blaine's arm as hard as he could. Kurt heard a crack, and looked on in horror as Blaine screamed in agony. Anger bubbled up inside him, and he ran for Azimio, fists flailing.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU FUCKING TWAT!"

Just before he could reach Azimio, he felt his arms being caught by Karofsky, and he was thrown back onto the floor with such a force that he could barely move. Blaine's eyes widened in horror, but he was being held tightly by Azimio. Karofsky rummaged around in his pocket before bringing out a large kitchen knife. Kurt couldn't even scream; he was rooted to the ground in terror. The only thing he could hear was Azimio cackling away in victory.

Karofsky knelt down until he was at eye level with Kurt. Kurt could vaguely hear Blaine's protests but they were muffled. All he could focus on was the light glinting off the kitchen knife in Karofsky's hand.

"You think it's ok being a fag? Do you? Because it's not. It's disgusting. You deserve to die."

Kurt couldn't help but think that Karofsky was just like him, but his mind was on other things as Karofsky ripped his shirt off, exposing his bare skin. Kurt trembled in fear as Karofsky danced the knife over his skin, before pressing it in slightly to the bottom of his stomach.

Kurt screamed as Karofsky began to carve away at Kurt's stomach, not pressing in far enough to burst any vital organs, but making it deep enough to scar. Kurt could feel his blood oozing from the cut, and he tried to move his head to see Blaine. Hazel met blue, and Kurt could see the horror in Blaine's face. He was crying, and mouthed a single sentence.

I'm sorry.

Kurt tried to reply, but was stopped as Karofsky pressed the knife in harder, making him scream. Karofsky stood back and licked the knife clean, passing it to Azimio, who jammed it straight into Blaine's forearm. Blaine screamed out in pain. Ignoring the blood pouring out of his arm, he fixed the two boys with a glare.

"L-leave. Don't you think you've done enough d-damage?"

Azimio glared at Blaine, before looking worriedly at Kurt. He guessed the bully thought they'd gone too far. The boys stood up, dropping the knife and fist bumping, before spitting at each of the boys and walking away.

Blaine tried to crawl towards Kurt, ignoring the searing pain in his arm. He reached Kurt, grabbing his hand before screaming when he saw Kurt's stomach. Looking down at Karofsky's handiwork, Kurt felt nauseous at the sight of his stomach. One singular word had been carved there.

FAG.

Kurt heard Blaine sob, and finally felt everything darken as he fell unconscious.

---------

Kurt awoke with a loud sob, tears streaming down his face. Without a second thought, he ran to the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. Ignoring the large bruise that now covered his right eye, he slowly lifted up his shirt and felt his stomach turn as he saw the scars clear on his skin.

FAG.

Not only did he have the reminder from homophobic people everywhere he went, he now had a constant reminder on his skin. Feeling whatever little food he ate the previous day come back up, he ran towards the toilet just in time to throw it all up. Leaning against the cool surface of the toilet bowl, he began to sob silently.

Suddenly, the door was flung open and Josh strode in wearing a suit, only stopping to look at Kurt once he'd picked up his toothbrush and begun brushing his teeth.

"What's the problem?"

Kurt looked at his boyfriend, tears clouding his vision. He must have seen it before. Pulling himself into a shaky standing position, Kurt pulled up the bottom of his shirt to reveal the hideous scar. Josh didn't seem fazed at all.

"Ohh that! Yeah, it was a bit of a turn off to start with, but I got used to it."

Ignoring the look of hurt on Kurt's face, he shrugged, spat out the toothpaste into the sink and walked out of the bathroom.

"I'm off to work. See you later babe."

As Kurt heard the door slam, he fell to his knees, shaking with sobs. After about 10 minutes of hysterical crying, he heard a soft ringtone coming from his bedroom.

You make me

Feel like I'm living a

Teenage Dream

The way you turn me on

Kurt sprinted into his bedroom, ignoring the feeling that he might pass out at any second, and grabbed his phone.

"Hello? Kurt?"

Kurt attempted to form a 'Hello' but it came out as more of a sob. On the other end of the phone, Blaine's eyebrows furrowed.

"Kurt? Are you ok? What happened? Who do I need to beat up?"

Kurt just carried on sobbing.

"I-I had-d a f-flashba-ack."

Blaine gulped. There were a few moments in their life that Blaine didn't want Kurt to have to remember.

"Which one?"

"… After g-graduation."

Blaine's heart dropped. Kurt had seen the event that had graced Blaine's nightmares for years after; having to watch his boyfriend turned into a human chalkboard and not being able to do anything, watching him scream out in agony as Karofsky carved into his stomach with a malicious sneer on his face, seeing the pain and fear in Kurt's beautiful eyes. He could never unsee that.

"I'm coming over. Josh has gone to work, right?"

Kurt sniffed in conformation, unable to form any words.

"I'll be over as soon as possible."

Kurt pulled himself to his feet and grabbed some coverup from the sink. He didn't want Blaine to have to worry about the bruise on his face too.

Blaine kept his promise, and was at Kurt's apartment within the next 10 minutes. As soon as Kurt opened the door, Blaine threw himself into Kurt's arms, wrapping his arms around the skinnier boy.

"I'm so sorry Kurt. I'm so so sorry."

Kurt looked at the boy in bewilderment.

"It wasn't your fault, Blaine. If you hadn't been there, they might have killed me. W-what happened after I passed out?"

Blaine helped Kurt limp over to the sofa, and sat down next to him, holding his hand.

"Finn saw that his car was still there and got worried. He and the New Directions looked around for a bit, until Mercedes found us in the alleyway. You were in hospital for about 3 days. You… you lost a lot of blood."

Kurt had been absent-mindedly stroking the scar on Blaine's forearm, and met eyes with the curly haired boy.

"Thank you." Kurt whispered.

Blaine looked suitably confused. "Why are you thanking me?"

"Because without you, this," he pulled up the bottom of his shirt to reveal the scar, "might have been the smallest of my wounds."

A single tear fell down Blaine's face at seeing the scar once more. It had barely faded in the past year. Blaine pulled Kurt to his feet, smiling.

"Let's go and get some coffee."

Kurt smiled genuinely for the first time in days and grabbed his keys, shutting the door carefully behind him.

--------

Kurt had come up with a plan as soon as Blaine left the coffee shop, and got into his car with a destination in mind.

Karofsky's jail.

Of course, when Blaine had mentioned that Karofsky and Azimio were currently serving 8 years in a jail just outside of New York, he obviously didn't think that Kurt would go and see one of the men. To be honest, even Kurt had no idea why he was doing it.

Actually, I do, he told himself. You're going to finally confront the bully who ruined your teenage life, and has scarred you both mentally and physically for the rest of your life.

He refused to listen to his thoughts for most of the journey, concentrating on the radio. He knew that, if he thought about it too much, he'd chicken out. Plus, if Blaine knew he was doing it, he'd have a fit. He wasn't even supposed to be driving, but whatever. It didn't matter.

Within half an hour he pulled up outside the jail, positively shaking. He had to go through the formalities of visiting a prison, handing his keys and phone over to the exceedingly nosy security guard.

The door opened, and Kurt filed into the room, sitting down at a table with a sheet of glass separating him from the other side of the table, where a tall beefy man sat in an orange jumpsuit. The man's hair was disheveled, and he'd grown a beard, but he was still very much the same Karofsky that Kurt had known and hated.

Although, unlike the old Karofsky, the look in his eyes was guilt.

"I'm so sorry, Kurt."

--------

Louise looked at her brother, rolling her eyes. He'd taken his sister out for lunch, but all he could do was talk about Kurt. I mean, after he'd gotten past the initial shock of her punching Adam.

"You did what?"

"I punched him." She said it so simply, like all she'd done was say hello to him.

"I'm just going to repeat myself here… You did what?"

She sighed dramatically, as if she were trying to explain Pythagoras' theorem to a chimp.

"He threatened to kill Kurt, therefore making you dump him. And me, being the protective sister, punched him round the face for being a douche bag. Understand now?"

Blaine looked suitably shocked. "What did Mom say?"

Louise shrugged. "She wasn't too happy that I punched him, but you should have seen the speech she gave him. She told him she was ashamed to call him her son. It was awesome."

Blaine couldn't help the smile growing on his face. "Good. He needed to hear that."

Louise eyed up her brother suspiciously. "So have you told Kurt why you dumped him yet?"

"No. He's only just remembered the graduation incident, so he's pretty shaken about that. I don't want to tell him until he remembers it; I'll explain everything then."

Louise sighed, knowing there was no way she could change his mind. "I'd like to see him at some point, check he's ok. He's like my little brother too, you know."

Blaine rolled his eyes, before digging out his phone. He dialled Kurt, and waited for the soft voice to answer. So you can understand why he was suitably shocked when a deep male voice answered it instead.

"H'llo?"

Blaine's mouth gaped open. "Umm.. Kurt?"

The man on the phone scoffed. "No."

"So who are you?"

"The prison guard at Upstate Correctional Facility."

Why the hell is Kurt at the… oh, shit. Blaine face-palmed.

"Could you please tell me who Kurt is visiting?"

"Kurt Hummel is visiting… One David Karofsky."

And with that, Blaine hung up, and ran with his sister in the direction of Kurt's apartment. He was sure Kurt would need to speak to him when he got back.

-------

Kurt and Karofsky talked for a while, discussing various aspects of their lives, although this proved difficult for Kurt, considering he could barely remember any of it. Karofsky was shocked to hear about Kurt's amnesia, and the fact he'd have to relive the attack again made him feel very guilty (even more so than before).

"What did you do after you'd remembered the attack?"

Kurt shuddered. "I-I threw up. Then I showed my boyfriend the scar, and he told me it used to turn him off but he'd gotten used to it." Karofsky almost flinched at the bitterness in Kurt's voice.

"Wow. Since when did Blaine become such a douche?"

"I'm not dating Blaine anymore. We broke up."

Karofsky's eyes widened. "What? Why? When?"

Kurt chuckled. "One question at a time! I can't remember what happened, if I dumped him or vice versa or if it was mutual. It was about a year ago. I've got a new boyfriend now; Josh." Kurt spat out his name like it were venomous.

"Why are you still with him if you hate him so much?"

Kurt thought about it for a moment, and suddenly it hit him.

"Because I'm terrified of being alone."

Before Karofsky could answer, a prison guard came in to escort him out, and Karofsky stood up too.

"I mean it, Kurt. I really am sorry. I don't know why I did it. It haunts me to this day, and I'm sure it will for the rest of my life. I-is the scar still there?"

Kurt just nodded. Karofsky's face fell, and he looked like he could cry at any moment.

"David… I've forgiven you. It's ok. You've had 5 years to think about what you did, and I can see you're truly sorry. I'm sorry you have to stay here."

Karofsky looked at the boy sadly. "I deserve it."

Before Kurt could answer, he was whisked away by a police officer, just sending one last smile in Karofsky's direction.

---------

Kurt pulled up into his drive with a smile on his face. Sure, Karofsky had scarred him for life, but he was sorry. Kurt didn't want yet another feud on his hands. Climbing the stairs to his apartment, Kurt almost screamed as he saw both Blaine and Louise squatting on the doormat.

Busted.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"I know you went to see Karofsky."

Kurt gulped, shifting his gaze. How did Blaine find out? Was he some sort of ninja?

"I'm not a ninja, Kurt. I rang your phone and the security guard at the jail answered it."

Once again, STOP VERBALISING YOUR THOUGHTS. Idiot.

"I'm sorry, Blaine. I know I should have told you, I just thought… I needed to face him on my own. And he was sorry, he truly was. I could see it in his eyes."

Blaine sighed, obviously still conflicted. Karofsky and Azimio had hurt him too. It was as if Kurt read his mind.

"You don't have to forgive him too, Blaine. I know that he hurt you too, but please respect my decision to forgive him. I can't deal with all these feuds. I needed to end one."

Blaine nodded, pulling Kurt into a hug.

"I just… Don't know what I'd do if you weren't around. I wouldn't be able to function."

Kurt blushed, staring into Blaine's eyes. They always were a source of comfort for him. They must have been just standing there staring for a while, because Louise felt the need to cough awkwardly.

"So, Kurt. Fancy going to get a cup of coffee? I feel like I haven't seen you in years."

Kurt nodded, and headed to the coffee shop down the street. Things were finally starting to look up.