Prologue:

"Who was I kidding when I thought the bullying would, at some point, stop?" Kurt muttered to himself as he stared at his naked torso in the mirror. His porcelain skin was marred with bruises of all shapes, colors, and sizes. His shoulders were throbbing with the constant pain of being shoved against a locker between every period. Kurt was used to the pain, but with every shove, his hard exterior would crack, and a few tears would escape involuntarily. What with the bullying increasing, those tears seemed to be coming more often than not.

"Kurt, dinner's ready!" His father called from downstairs.

"I'm coming, dad!"

After putting on a sweater, Kurt made his way down the stairs at a sluggish pace.

"Hey, dude! Why didn't you show up at glee club today? Everyone was worried! We've all noticed that Karofsky has-"

"Finn," Kurt cut him off firmly with a warning stare.

"That Karosfky kid bullyin' you again, Kurt? You told me he stopped bothering you." His father wondered aloud with a suspicious glance at Finn and Kurt.

"Yes, dad, he did stop. Finn was talking about how Karosfky came to apologize." He lied with a heavy sigh.

Finn frowned and looked down at his food.

It's not that Kurt didn't want to tell his father about what was going on at school. It's just that, what with his father recovering from a recent heart attack, he didn't want to put any pressure on him.

"Now, kiddo, you know you're supposed to tell me if anyone is botherin' you at school, right?"

"I know, and I would have if anything was going on," Kurt continued to lie easily.

Who knew lying to your family and friends would get easier every day? Kurt thought bitterly.

Dinner continued at a normal pace. Kurt ate his dinner quietly while Finn rambled on about football and glee club.

"So then Rachel sang a duet with Quinn," Finn continued excitedly, with both Carole and Burt listening intently.

"Oh! I forgot to talk about how Tina-"

"May I be excused?" Kurt cut in, huffing annoyingly.

"Are you okay, honey? You seem a little down." Carole asked softly with a gentle hand on his shoulder.

It took every ounce of control not to flinch at the pain the gentle action had caused.

"I'm fine, just exhausted. I didn't get enough sleep last night, so goodnight." Kurt replied with a tight smile as he slowly got up to take his plate back to the kitchen and head upstairs.

"Alright, goodnight kiddo." Burt called with a worried glance towards Carole, and received the same worried look as he heard Kurt climb up the stairs.

Once in his room, he shut the door and padded softly to his ensuite bathroom.

They were days like this when he missed his mother the most. Days when he would beg to whatever deity he didn't believe in to stop all the pain. Days when he would pull out a razor and ease the emotional pain with every drop of blood.

"What have I done to deserve this?" He whispered brokenly as he stared into the hollow eyes staring back at him in the mirror, the reflection of the dark red vital fluid slowly dripping from his wrist.