With one last shuddering breath, he repositioned the razor above his left wrist. To do it, or not to do it?

"Blaine! Kurt! Wait a second!" Rachel yelled as she ran after them. The two had stopped right in front of Blaine's car, ready to go for their usual coffee.

"Hey Rachel." Blaine said, waving at her.

"Hi!" Rachel said breathlessly as she caught up to them. "I was just going to ask if Kurt was okay." She turned to Kurt, pressing her hand to her chest to control her heavy breathing.

Kurt gave her a sudden look, willing her to shut up before she said anything else.

"Sure he is, why wouldn't he be?" Blaine asked, his eyes flickering to Kurt.

"Oh, well Finn told me that Karofsky stopped by to talk to him earlier." Rachel said. Both Blaine and her looked at Kurt expectantly.

"You and Finn are worse at keeping secrets than Brittany," Kurt sighed "and that's saying something."

"So, something did happen?" Blaine asked.

"No, actually. He just dropped by the choir room when I was there by myself-"

"Why were you there by yourself?" Blaine asked, concern evident in his voice.

"Oh," Rachel giggled, "He was actually singing this song about y-"

"Rachel!" Kurt hissed. He could feel the red blush creeping slowly up his cheeks.

Blaine raised his eyebrows as though amused. "You were singing a song about whom?"

"Nobody. I was just practicing." He shot an angry look at Rachel, then turned back to him. "Anyways, Karofsky just dropped by to make sure everything was okay."

Both Blaine and Rachel looked unconviced, but said nothing. Kurt simply rolled his eyes and got into the car. Blaine was about to walk to the other side, but Rachel pulled him aside briefly.

"Here," she whispered, handing him a CD. "You might like to see this."

"What is it?" Blaine asked.

"Oh, just something I caught on tape while Kurt wasn't watching." She winked at him then ran off. He tucked the CD into his jacket pocket, afraid of what it might contain.

Blaine watched her go, confusion in his eyes until his gaze froze on one person. Karofsky was standing nearby, leaning against a tree with his arms folded. He was staring right at Blaine. Blaine turned around momentarily to motion to Kurt that he would be right back, and he walked off toward Karofsky.

"Did you want something?" Karofsky said innocently, though the sarcasm was evident in his smirk.

"Actually, I do." Blaine said coming right up to him and folding his arms. "I want you to stay away from Kurt."

"Why should I do that? We're friends now," he replied, smiling.

"Look, cut the crap Karofsky. I know you said something to Kurt today. And whatever it was, it shook him. He's my boyfriend," (Karofsky flinched at the mention of word) "and I know him well enough to realize when he's lying to me. So, go play your pretend games with someone else because no one's buying it. And I promise, if you so much as lay a finger on him, we're going to have trouble." Blaine said, making sure every word was emphasized.

"How touching." Karofsky said. "But you don't have to worry, fag. I'm not going to do anything to your boyfriend. I will tell you this, though: come near this school again and we're going to have problems. I can tolerate your prissy little girl, but two of you? As long as you stay away from me, nothing will happen to him." He smiled and then turned to walk away.

Blaine was left with his fists clenched and his jaw set. He kicked the tree as he cursed underneath his breath. What the hell was he supposed to do now?

"Got a problem, doe face?"

Blaine turned around to see Coach Sylvester standing behind him. "Oh, no...everything's fine."

"You're porcelain's boy, right?" she said as she studied him.

Blaine could only assume she was talking about Kurt, so he nodded.

"Well, you don't have to worry. I don't buy the caveman's new story either. That boy wouldn't know how to lie even if he was taking private lessons from me. But I'll be keeping an eye out for porcelain, so don't take anything that dumbass says seriously."

Blaine looked up at her gratefully. "Thanks," he said.

She patted him on the shoulder, and walked off. As Blaine returned to the car, he couldn't help but feel that Kurt's day back to school had been ruined. And now that Karofsky was threatening to hurt Kurt if Blaine showed up again, it would be difficult to tell his boyfriend that he simply wouldn't be able to stop by in the mornings, or the afternoons or any time in between.

He opened the door and sat down in the driver's seat. "What was that about?" Kurt asked.

"Which part?"

"The whole Rachel thing." Kurt replied.

"Oh, she just gave me some CD." Blaine mumbled as he put the key into the ignition.

"And where did you go? I couldn't see you because you walked off somewhere." Kurt continued, looking at him suspiciously.

"I thought I saw something shiny there by the tree." Blaine replied nonchalantly.

Kurt laughed. "And you had to go over there to see what it was?"

"Of course I did. It could have been a ring that I could have proposed to you with," he replied, laughing as he saw Kurt turn red. He put his hands on the steering wheel and started driving. It was then that Kurt caught a glimpse of Blaine's left hand. It was weird that he hadn't noticed the scar there before, the horizontal line that stretched across his wrist right underneath the bracelet Kurt had given him. Blaine typically wore long sleeves so it came as a surprise when Kurt finally noticed the cut on the underside of his hand.

"What's that scar from?" Kurt asked.

"Which scar?" Blaine followed Kurt's eyes to his left hand, and he momentarily twitched. "Oh, that. I've had it for almost three years now. You know, from my bear-fighting days."

Kurt scoffed. "Bear-fighting days?"

"Yeah!" Blaine said indignantly. "What, you don't believe me? Way back in the day I used to ward off bears by wrestling them to keep other people safe."

Kurt laughed, placing his hand over his mouth to stifle the laughter.

"What? Why are you laughing? Is it so hard to believe that your charming boyfriend is a hero?" Blaine asked, pouting. The two boys laughed simultaenously and kept talking on the way to the coffee shop. Blaine silently sighed in relief, grateful that he had avoided the question without being noticed.

"So, what was it you wanted to talk about?" Kurt asked, taking a sip from his drink.

They were both sitting at the Lima Bean, their home base for conversation. Blaine took a sip from his medium drip and looked at Kurt's eyes. He could see the distress that flickered across them every now and then, even though Kurt was clearly trying to hide it.

"I guess I'll get right to the point." Blaine sighed. "Finn called me today."

Kurt rolled his eyes and turned away. "Look, if it's about what happened today with Karofsky you don't have to worry." Kurt sighed, waving his hand dismissively. "Finn makes a big deal out of everything. I already told him nothing happened, Karofsky was just being talking to me about what we should do for the Bully Whips."

Blaine stared at him expectantly.

"What?" Kurt asked irritably.

"Don't lie to me, Kurt...please." Blaine said softly. "I understand if you don't want to talk about something that happened, but I don't want you to pretend like it's nothing."

"Nothing happened." Kurt replied.

"Did he touch you?"

"What?" Kurt laughed. "No, of course not."

"Did he push you?"

"Blaine, you're-"

"Did he make any advances?"

"Look, I already told you, nothing happened-"

"Did he threaten you?"

Kurt visibly paled, but he covered it up by looking away. "Blaine. Get a grip. If I told you nothing happened, then nothing happened, alright?" His anger was starting to rise and he couldn't take another push.

"Then why are your hands shaking?" Blaine asked.

"Maybe because I'm being harassed by my boyfriend!" Kurt said defiantly.

"Kurt, I'm just trying to make sure nothing happens to you..."

"I know, but I already told you countless times, nothing happened. So can you cool it?" Kurt huffed, turning away.

The two boys sat in silence for a while. The tension had thickened in the air, and all they could do was stare in the opposite direction. Each was wrapped in his own thoughts, clouded by images of the past. Blaine stole a glance at Kurt and noticed how his hand hadn't quite stop shaking. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

He thought back to his freshman year of high school. Visions of Bryan flooded his mind and he shuddered. He didn't like thinking about those times. In fact, most of the time he pretended like that stage in his life had never happened. He pretended as if everything was fine, as if he had never been harassed, bullied, assaulted. In his mind, his life had started from his first day at Dalton Academy, not before.

No one but his family knew about his history. Neither the Warblers nor Kurt knew about his past and he didn't want to mention it. The thought of telling Kurt about everything that had been done to him...about what Blaine had done to himself...it terrified him. What if he scared Kurt away?

And more importantly, what if Kurt got to the same point that Blaine had been at? What if he bottled everything up, just as Blaine had done his freshman year? What if Kurt kept his mouth shut and took all of the bullshit that Karofsky threw at him and ended up in the bathroom with a razor poised over his wrist?

If there was anything Blaine had to avoid, it was that. He couldn't let Kurt fall to those depths, couldn't let the bullying go to such an extent that he would risk losing Kurt. That's why he had to go to all lengths to protect him, no matter what the risk.

He saw Bryan walking down the hallway, coming straight at him. There was no running away, no teachers in sight, no students that cared to speak up. In one single movement, Bryan pinned Blaine up against the lockers and punched him in the gut. Blaine coughed out, seeking the air that had been robbed from him. He slid down the lockers and fell to the floor as Bryan walked away. "That was for existing," Bryan laughed and stalked off.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice his grip tightening on his plastic cup, didn't notice how his fingers dug into the sides and inadvertently spilled the coffee over his hands. His eyes had become unfocused, the images of Bryan's terrorizing eyes plaguing his mind, until-

"Blaine!" Kurt said sharply.

Blaine blinked and looked across the table at Kurt, then down at his hand. "Oh." Kurt glared at him, getting up to get napkins. "What was that for?" Kurt hissed as some people turned to look at them.

"Sorry..." Blaine mumbled as he wiped the table down.

Kurt looked over at him thoughtfully. He was still angry by his persistence to keep meddling, but he could tell there was something on his boyfriend's mind. Before he could ask what was wrong however, he was interrupted.

"Look, Kurt, can we cut the crap? I know you. I know you're hiding something and I know you don't want to tell me what's going on, but you need to speak up before you get hurt." Blaine said, looking directly into Kurt's eyes.

The sky outside had grown cloudy and they could hear the sound of thunder in the distance. Kurt stayed silent, willing himself to keep his cool.

"I get that you didn't want to tell Finn or Rachel, but you should be able to trust me Kurt. I understand what it's like-"

"No, actually, you don't understand Blaine." Kurt retorted, standing up. "You don't understand because you ran away from your problems. You went to Dalton and everything was fine. You never went back to face whoever was teasing you, so you have no idea what this is like. You ask why my hands were shaking? Well did it ever occur to you that it might have been because I was simply scared to be back at the school with a neanderthal who's caused me grief before? Did it ever occur to you that Karofsky hasn't actually done anything to me, and I'm just uncomfortable being around him?"

Blaine opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off.

"No, it didn't occur to you Blaine, because you have no idea how scary it is to go back to face your bully. Just because I'm scared of him doesn't mean he's done anything to me. It just means that I haven't gotten over all of the shit he pulled, and you will never understand that because you only ran away."

And with that, Kurt stood up and stalked off, leaving Blaine all alone.

"...I thought you liked me." Blaine whispered, unable to breathe.

"N-no! You p-pressured me, homo!" James yelled at him, going red in the face.

A crowd of boys had gathered around the two of them. Blaine couldn't understand why James simply didn't own up to it. Why he couldn't just accept his sexuality. Instead, he chose to lie. He chose to lie blatantly in front of the crowd to make Blaine look bad instead.

"James, you kissed me!" Blaine yelled at him, angry tears welling in his eyes.

"Why are y-you lying, faggot?" James retorted, and he turned away, parting the crowd of boys who were now looking at Blaine as though he had a disease.

The boys shook their heads and shoved purposely into Blaine as they walked off in their own directions. Some whispered insults as they moved past him, 'faggot' or 'liar' or 'pig'. And all Blaine could do was stand in the middle of the hallway, the heat rising to his face and his heart falling beneath his feet. He could feel his stomach churning, not just from the rejection but the humiliation. All eyes in the hallway were set on him, and all he could think about was how James had betrayed him. How he had denied his own sexuality and them left him to be the butt of the joke, right in front of everyone.

And that was the moment it first started. It wasn't until his public outing that Bryan began to torment him. Before, no one knew about him, no one really noticed his existence. But the fight in the hallway had changed everything. He had trusted James, the very first boy he liked. He trusted him to keep his secret, to keep his word. And then as their friendship grew stronger, James kissed him. Unexpectedly, out of nowhere. Blaine got his first taste of what it was like to be liked in return. But it didn't last long, because shortly after, James started avoiding him.

Blaine was left confused, unsure of what was going on. And when he finally confronted James, he was humiliated. But that wasn't the worst part. No, not the worst part by far. Because the moment Bryan had seen the mess in the hallway and tagged him as a homosexual, Blaine's life had become miserable.

He became Bryan's target. His own personal punching bag.

It took Blaine several moments to register what happened. By the time his mind processed the words that stung in his ears, Kurt was already out the door and rain had started to pour.

"Fuck..." He mumbled under his breath as he got up and ran after Kurt. He was torn between being defiant and keeping up his charade. Kurt had told him that he wouldn't understand. Understand? If anyone understood Kurt's situation, it was Blaine. But of course, Kurt didn't know that. Kurt didn't know about Bryan, didn't know about Blaine's incident...All he knew was that he had been teased at his old high school and that he had gone running to Dalton Academy.

Was being defiant worth the trouble it would cause? Was it worth telling Kurt all about the insults, the harrassment and the violence he had faced?

He had worked so hard already to start a new life, that there was no way he could play the defense card. So he swallowed his pride and ran after Kurt.

After weeks of being shoved into lockers and insulted, Blaine didn't think things could get worse. But somehow, life always found a way of arranging his misfortune just so. Everything had been fine to an extent. He could handle the insults, the teasing, even the shoving. He expected that at some point in his life he would have to face that kind of hatred from someone.

So when he became Bryan's target, he didn't think much of it. Of course, he despised it, but it was something he could tolerate. It wasn't until things escalated though, that Blaine began to lose his footing.

He had just changed into his regular clothes after showering in P.E. The locker room was empty except for a group of guys several rows down. The coaches were still out on the court playing with another class; the coast was clear.

As he picked up his towel and slung it over his shoulder, he heard shuffling behind him. He turned around only to meet Bryan with a gang of his friends.

"Hey, homo." Bryan said, smirking.

Blaine didn't respond, just stood up and walked the other way.

"Where do you think you're going fag?" One of the groupies called.

"None of your business," Blaine said, and kept walking.

"But see Anderson, it is my business. It's my business to put fags in their place when they think they have a right to disrespect me like that." Bryan replied. He smiled at his friends and all of a sudden they ran at Blaine. He was tackled to the floor, and pinned down on his back.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Blaine yelled as he struggled. He tried pushing the three guys off of him, but nothing worked. Two of them were holding down his opposite arms, and the other was holding down his legs. Bryan stood over him, smiling as he watched Blaine struggle.

He crouched down close to Blaine's face and looked directly in his eyes. "I'm going to teach you a lesson, faggot." He took out a knife from his pocket and showed it to Blaine. "Now, you're going to keep quiet, or I'll slit your throat in a heartbeat."

Blaine could feel the tears welling in his eyes, as he struggled to push the attackers off. He pushed against their weight, but couldn't do anything. He felt a hand cover his mouth and someone pull up his shirt. All he could do was lift his head in time to see Bryan pressing the knife to his stomach.

"KURT!" Blaine yelled, as he ran after him. "Kurt, wait!"

Kurt didn't stop walking, he just kept going, ignoring the calls behind him.

"Kurt, hang on!" Blaine yelled, and he sped up just in time to pull him back by the wrist.

"What do you want?" Kurt said, his eyes quite visibly red.

Blaine looked at him and his complexion softened. So something was going on. He pulled Kurt to his chest in one swift motion and pressed his other hand to Kurt's face. The rain fell all around them, hitting the pavement like a timpani. The hazel eyes searched the blue and saw the fear and the pain there. Blaine closed his eyes and let the rhythm of the rain overcome him. He slowly leaned in and pressed his lips gently to Kurt's. He let his other hand come up and caress Kurt's cheek, as Kurt returned the kiss. Their lips parted, moving gently across each other.

Blaine pulled away and leaned his forehead to Kurt's, his eyes still closed. "Listen to me," he whispered, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push you so far Kurt. I'm just terrified..." His voice was breaking unwillingly. Kurt opened his eyes in concern. "I'm terrified that he's going to do something to you and I can't...I can't let that happen. I can't lose you, Kurt." He felt a hot tear trailing down his cheek.

Kurt pulled up his hands and placed them on top of Blaine's, stroking them gently. "Nothing's going to happen to me Blaine. You're not going to lose me." Kurt whispered back.

"I know I don't understand what it's like...I know that I ran away and you were brave enough to go back and face your bully...but it's terrifying to sit back and watch you go through this and not be able to do anything." Blaine said, his voice barely audible.

Kurt only responded by pressing his lips roughly to Blaine's, his hands reaching behind his head to run his fingers through the jet black curls. And this time, the kiss was far more passionate, far more comforting. They moved in synchronization, feeling how the warmth traveled from their lips to the fingertips. Kurt nibbled on Blaine's lower lip, feeling him shudder as he did so.

The two boys parted once more and pressed their foreheads together.

"Just promise me, Kurt," Blaine said shakily, "promise me you'll tell me if he hurts you." The hazel eyes met the blue, pleading. And finally, Kurt nodded.

"We need to go back home and change before we catch a cold." He mumbled, and he grabbed Blaine's hand in his own, intertwining their fingers as they walked back to the car.

He was lying on the ground, paralyzed with disbelief. He could feel the cuts across his stomach, the sting that was left there after Bryan was done. The group of boys got up and looked down at their work, satisfied. Many of them laughed and then left the locker room. Bryan stood above Blaine, smirking down at him. "There, now you're branded for the rest of your life. That should teach you." He laughed once more, spit down next to him, and walked away.

When he finally gained the energy to pull himself up, he didn't bother studying the wound. He felt raw, vulnerable and tainted. He didn't want to see what it was that had been etched into the left side of his stomach. He didn't care that the blood was now seeping through his shirt. All he cared about was going home and staying there forever.

He grabbed his jacket, put it on, and then walked out of school without thinking about the rest of his classes. It wasn't until he got home and gathered enough courage to look in the mirror, that reality hit him. The word 'faggot' was now etched into his stomach in capital letters.

That was the first crack in the dam.

The two boys had immediately rushed to Kurt's house in search of warmth. Their clothes were drenched, and even though they were nearing spring, the temperature outside was well below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Kurt rummaged through his closet as he pulled out clothes that they could wear.

"Here." He threw a regular t-shirt to Blaine, who watched as Kurt discarded his own soaked shirt.

Blaine blushed as he looked at the smooth skin that extended across Kurt's back. He turned away and coughed.

"What? Did I finally find something that makes you uncomfortable?" Kurt chuckled to himself.

Blaine shook his head, even though the blush remained on his cheeks. "I'm just...I'm gonna go to the bathroom to change."

"What, I can't see my own boyfriend shirtless?" Kurt said in a mock-indignant voice.

Blaine shook his head.

"Oh come on, don't act like you have something to hide. You probably have a six-pack." Kurt rolled his eyes. "I bet you're just insecure because of a weird birth mark or something like that."

Something like that, Blaine thought. Blaine reached for his scar subconsciously. He wasn't ready for Kurt to see it just yet.