It had been days since Blaine had even looked at him. Not that Kurt could blame him, he felt absolutely dreadful for running away, but his fight or flight instinct had kicked in and apparently he was a flight kind of person now. Before the bullying had gotten worse, before he had quit glee club and left his friends behind, he had been a fight kind of person. He hadn’t been afraid to yell a sarcastic comment back when the bullies had said something particularly mean. In fact, for awhile, back when it had just been taunts and jeers, he had relished in it. He knew he was going to leave this town and make something of himself while the top offenders were going to live in Lima, Ohio, living off of their glory days. Not Kurt though, he was going to go to New York, to NYADA. Kurt was going to be a star on Broadway. Still, once the harassment had turned from nasty words to even nastier shoves, after it had started to mean him being locked in some empty locker for the majority of his school days and no one bothered to come looking for him, he lost his ability to fight; thus becoming the kind of person who ran away when he witnessed a physical assault such as he had earlier in the week. This was something that made him sick to his stomach.

He had tried approaching Blaine, who would generally send a glare his way. When he didn’t glare, he would just look at Kurt with the biggest, saddest eyes, and those were the worst. Kurt would lose his nerve and walk past, tail between his legs. He wanted to be there for Blaine in any way he could, he was just absolutely terrified to deal with the jocks that had previously injured both his body and his spirit. However, Kurt was going to find a way to help Blaine if it was the last thing that he did.

~

Blaine was upset, no Blaine was furious. He couldn’t fathom how Kurt could’ve just stood there and watched while his aggressor literally choked him. He knew that Kurt probably didn’t consider him a friend, although they had practically spent their childhoods together, even if Blaine was only an add-on to Kurt and Rachel’s games. Still, anyone who could just stand there and watch while someone physically harmed someone else had to be a despicable human being. Blaine Anderberry was nothing if not a kind person though, he could always find the best of people, and that was why part of him wanted to forgive Kurt. He knew that Kurt had endured his own singling out by the bullies during his freshman and sophomore years, Rachel had casually mentioned it a time or two. So, Blaine wondered if maybe Kurt wasn’t a terrible person, maybe he was just too scared to get involved again. Still though, Blaine wished that he had. That was why, when he found Kurt on his doorstep four days after the library incident, he let him in.

Blaine barely acknowledged Kurt’s presence in his bedroom, although it was rather odd to see Kurt in his bedroom, rather than Rachel’s. He hadn’t spoken more than two words to Kurt since he had let him into the house, and Kurt was kind of just standing in the middle of the room, shifting awkwardly. He obviously didn’t know what he was doing there anymore than Blaine did. Finally Blaine let out a sigh. “Kurt, what are you doing here?”

“I’m…” Kurt started, but he seemed to be at a loss for words. “I wanted to say I was sorry for not doing anything when Azimio was hurting you. I know I should’ve it’s just… I was scared.”

“You were scared?” Blaine started, and wow when did his voice get so loud? “I was terrified Kurt. I didn’t think he would kill me in the middle of the library, but I also wouldn’t have put it past him. He was choking me Kurt, and you just stood there.” Blaine was yelling now, all of his pent up anger from the constant harassment and Kurt’s apparent disregard for his life coming out at once.

Kurt had tears in his eyes. “Yes Blaine I’m sorry. This isn’t about me, but I can explain why I didn’t say anything. I can explain why I just ran.”

“Then feel free to fill me in Kurt. Tell me what makes you think it’s ok to not even tell anyone when something like that is happening to another person.” Blaine was at the end of his rope, he honestly felt that any reasons that Kurt came up with would just be excuses about not harming his own reputation in order to help a nobody like Blaine.

Kurt let out a shaky breath, urging himself to calm down. He had never told anyone the details of what had happened to him at the beginning of the year; the one incident that had led him to isolate himself from the rest of the population at McKinley High, the incident that had finally broken him. “Blaine I’m going to tell you a story but I need you to calm down before I do so.”

Blaine glared at him, but his curiosity got the better of him, and, heaving a sigh, he gave a barely perceptible nod.

~

When his junior year had begun, Kurt had actually let himself believe that this year would be better. He and Rachel had an amazing summer break. They had even visited New York for the first time, which had solidified their plans of moving there after graduation. However, when he had to endure three slushy facials, two dumpster tosses, and an unfathomable number of harsh shoves into lockers and hurtful remarks in his first week back at school, his optimism had quickly faded. The bullying had only gotten worse from there. He had soon found himself hiding rather large bruises from his father and friends, unwilling to burden anyone else with his problems, especially when he had tried reaching out for help before and nothing had come of it. Kurt honestly wasn’t sure if he was going to survive that year.

Kurt had soon resided himself to rushing to all of his classes, and not hanging out in empty hallways. However, on a particularly bad day, when Karofsky had shoved him too hard into the nearest locker on his way to class, Kurt had followed him. Kurt had yelled at him, demanding an explanation. He had chased him all the way to the nearest locker room, which just so happened to be empty. Kurt had begun ranting, he couldn’t even tell you exactly what he had said, it had simply been the product of all of the pain he had been holding inside for the past two years. Finally, he had stopped, breathing hard. When he had looked up at Karofsky, he hadn’t been able to tell what the look in his eyes was, Kurt had assumed it was fury. Kurt had braced himself for a punch, what he had gotten instead was a kiss. He had been in shock. He had also been disgusted. Karosky, whose life goal, it had seemed, was to torture him, was kissing him. So, when Karofsky went in for a second kiss, Kurt had pushed him away. Then Karofsky had fled and Kurt had slid to the ground with tears stinging his eyes. No one had bothered to come find him.

Kurt hadn’t gone to anyone for help. Mainly because there had been no witnesses and he was not na�ve enough to think that they would believe him over Karofsky. Then, Karofsky had confronted him later with a death threat if he told anyone, and Kurt was done. He couldn’t deal with it any longer. His fight with Rachel and departure from Glee happened shortly after and he had soon found himself all alone. All alone, but at least his status as a Cheerio kept the worst of his tormentors away. Even Karofsky, who, it was true, kept a pretty close eye on Kurt, had left him alone for the most part after the confrontation in the locker room. So, he thought the worst of his fear was over, until he’d seen Azimio and Blaine in the library the other day and it had all come rushing back.

~

“I know it’s not an excuse Blaine, and I haven’t been able to forgive myself since I saw what happened in the library and didn’t do anything about it. I just hope you believe me when I say that I really did want to help, I just… froze up.” Kurt said finally finding strength in his voice after regaling Blaine with his tale.

For awhile Blaine just looked at him, he was filled with conflicting emotions. While a small part of him still wanted to hate Kurt, another part of him understood. He was so sad that Kurt had to endure all of that by himself, with no one willing to help. Kurt, after realizing that Blaine wasn’t going to say anything, gathered up his courage and said, “Anyways, the reason that I am here is not only to apologize, but to tell you that you’re not alone. I know what it’s like, and I’m here for you if you need to talk about it or anything. I’m sorry I didn’t stand up for you when I had the chance, but I hope that in the future I won’t be so tongue tied.”

Blaine just continued to stare. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to accept Kurt’s apology, but having somebody who understood to talk to would be such a relief. He looked up at Kurt from his spot at his desk, “Kurt, I’m not ready to forgive you, but if you still need help in Chem I would be more than happy to do whatever I can.”

Kurt let out a small laugh, honestly glad that Blaine was giving him even this little line to cling to, “Yes Blaine, I’d really appreciate that.”