It wasn't until after he flicked on the lights Blaine saw how utterly stunning the boy was.

His hair, skin and wings were clumped with dirt, clothes tattered (probably not washed for some time), his face had scattered cuts and yellow bruises. With all of that, he still seemed to be devastatingly pretty. He had eyes that shone like precious blue diamonds, and his face looked softer than the finest silk.

He was void of emotion, only looking anxious when he was being guided by Blaine through the house. Blaine noticed how the Ave walked with almost perfect posture, only his head was downcast watching his abused black boots glide over the hardwood. The feathers on his wings were ruffled, sticking up in awkward angles. Blaine wanted to run his hands over them to smooth out the soft feathers, but he didn't want to startle the poor boy.

"Don't worry about getting the place dirty, it's my parent's house. They hire a maid for me to come on the weekends." Blaine rambled. The Ave gave a small nod, lifting his eyes off his boots to look at Blaine.

"Anyway, are you hungry? We can take a bath first if you want." The stranger stayed silent, but his wings perked up and he gave another nod.

"Yes to a bath?"

Nod.

~**~

Blaine led him to the bathroom, turning the faucet on a pleasant temperature and put in a generous amount soap. The stranger had a conflicted expression on his face, Blaine asked him what was wrong, but he just shook his head from side to side as if to say 'no'. Blaine fell silent until the water was at an acceptable level.

"So. . . do you want me to leave?"

The Ave shook his head and began to undress. He took off his clothes and shoes then set them in the corner. Blaine covered his eyes, blushing as he did so.

He listened for the sound of the boy getting in the water, but it never came. He took his hand off his eyes slowly, peeking out to see him standing awkwardly by the tub looking at Blaine with confusion.

"You're supposed to get in." Blaine chuckled with amusement. The boy still stood there, looking at the water. "Do you understand me?"

Nod.

He inched his way to the tub and stepped in cautiously, careful not to slip, then sat down fully. He visibly relaxed into the warm bubbly water with a faint smile on his face. His wings were fully submerged, only the white wrist of the wing poking out of the water.

Blaine watched him soak for a minute or two, water already tinting brown. He grabbed his shower caddy and set it on the toilet.

"Sit up," Blaine murmured softly. The Ave tensed but followed instructions. Blaine grabbed a small sponge and wet it in the water. He touched the cloth to the Ave's face and gently wiped off all the dirt on his porcelain skin. The Ave scrunched up his face and squeezed his eyes shut as Blaine washed him.

While he was washing the boy, he looked more closely at the faint yellow bruises along his jaw, and also found that he had a split lip and a scratch or two along his cheek and neck. Blaine passed over them with care. He later found more bruises on the boy's arms and chest, and a couple more on his legs. Blaine sighed heavily.

He washed the Ave's arms, upper torso and legs clean of dirt. He didn't want his guest getting uncomfortable, so he left out the whole genital area hoping it wasn't as dirty as the rest of him.

He washed the boy's hair thoroughly, picking out the big chinks of dirt matted to his sandy locks. The water was turning a dark brown by this point, so he took the Ave out and wrapped him in a towel, refilling the tub with more warm soapy water. He let the boy get back in and relax in the water for a while.

"Can you lean forward please?" Blaine asked, inspecting the boy's beautiful wings. They were white-ish, covered in dust and mud, with brown flecks at the tips of the longer feathers. "Can you, uh, spread your wings for me?"

He did so, spreading his wings out to almost full span. Blaine was mesmerized by the motion. He touched them carefully, knocking some of the matted-on dirt onto the linoleum tile. He watched the boy relax into the motions before he took the sponge and ran it over the soft feathers.

"Gorgeous. . ." He found himself mumbling as he worked over the wing. He spent extra time cleaning the boy's primary and secondary feathers, getting all the dirt clumps out and stroking over the frayed ends longingly with his gentle hands.

Blaine kept mumbling encouragements as he moved on to the left wing, putting as much attention on it as the first. This wing was different than the last, it had splotches of dried blood and some feathers missing. He felt the boy wince as her rubbed over it with the sponge.

He helped the boy out of the tub, wrapped the towel around him and gave him some old clothes. He realized the boy would not fit in the clothes due to his wings, so he cut a hole in the back of the sweatshirt and helped him put it on. Blaine dressed his wounds, covering them with band-aids and Neosporin. He paid most of his attention on the wing, washing it out with alcohol and covering it the best he could with gauze.

~**~

The Ave was lead to the kitchen, where Blaine had asked him what he wanted to eat. He shrugged, so Blaine hoped he liked leftover pasta.

"If you don't like it I can make something else." Blaine said, setting the plate in front of the Ave. He looked surprised, staring at Blaine with wide eyes that asked, Why are you doing this?

"Eat up, it's all for you. Of course you don't have to eat it all if you don't want to, but I encourage it." Blaine explained, he really wanted to get the boy to eat something. His body was scarily thin. It looked like he hadn't eaten in weeks.

The boy only managed to stomach a few bites, watching Blaine carefully as if he was going to take it away from him. Blaine's heart ached at the sight.

After the meal, he set up the guest room that was across the hall from his own. He showed the boy the room and told him he was going to stay there for the night. The boy protested silently, but submissively crawled into bed with a grateful expression.

Before Blaine left his bedside, the Ave took his hand and squeezed. Their eyes locked, and he moved his mouth with no words. While the Ave looked at him with those big diamond eyes and it occurred to Blaine that it was those eyes alone that told him he was doing a right thing by taking in the stranger.

Blaine took it as a Thank you and retired to him room, wondering into a dreamless sleep.