Tuesday morning Kurt had no idea whether it was going to be a good day or a bad one.

The night before, alone in his room had been horror. He had been very practical; showering, brushing his teeth, eating too much of the spaghetti Bolognese his father had proudly presented for dinner and then watching loads of TV, successfully ignoring homework or the recent memories flickering at the brink of his consciousness.

That all worked out until he lay down for bed.

As soon as he closed his eyes, he couldn't avoid the memories. Karofsky in the locker room. Karofsky yelling at him, slamming the locker. Karofsky's mouth on his lips. He felt sick again and this time there was no shock to keep him frozen and no Blaine to sooth him. He jumped up, ran into the bathroom and threw up until his stomach was empty and his nausea had subsided a little.

He rinsed his mouth and crawled back into bed but the darkness didn't lull him in. It just let him relive insult after insult, humiliation after humiliation, attack after attack.

The images blurred together, no order or chronology but the locker scene was the most vivid and most frequent memory.

Kurt pressed his face into the mattress, body rolled into itself and his cushion pressed over his head as if to guard himself from his own mind. It didn't work and after some time Kurt just gave in to the tears, gave up on being strong, drifting into despair and finally sleep.

Meanwhile, 90 miles down the road in a dorm in Dalton Academy, Blaine didn't seem to get any rest either.

His thoughts were constantly with Kurt and the twist in his gut that came along with that made him feel uneasy. It had been his idea to confront this guy. It was his fault that Kurt had beenassaulted.

His eyes grew wide like they did every time he just thought about it. He tossed and turned, trying to find a better sleeping position.

Kurt had said that it wasn't Blaine's fault, that it had felt good to stand up but still, Blaine shouldn't have given Kurt easy advice without knowing more about the story.

He constantly avoided the thoughts that were adamant to take over. What if he had gone further?

The boy didn't want to think about it. He didn't know this guy which was one of the reasons he wanted to talk to him. He could just be a confused kid. Afraid of himself because the world was telling him that he was wrong and disgusting. His feelings and mere existence an abomination.

But the what if was still there. What if he wasn't just a confused kid? What if today had just been the next step after throwing Kurt around? What if he had liked what he had done today and would want to do it again and this time... go further?

Blaine swallowed hard. Don't go there, Blaine. You will work that out and keep Kurt safe.

Kurt.

The boy had been on his mind all week and he had to admit to himself that he already cared for him more than for most other people he knew, except maybe his closest Warbler friends.

Still, Kurt was different. He was fun and easy to talk to. He had never had so much in common with anyone and it was exhilarating to gush so carelessly about things other people rolled their eyes about.

He felt warmth when thinking about the boy.

Blaine knew that he could help him. Minus this Karofsky guy, Blaine seemed to be the only gay person Kurt knew and Blaine knew how much he had needed someone like that. He hadn't had anyone in his time of need... back when Blaine's life hadn't been so far from what Kurt's was like now...

This was the other place Blaine didn't dare to go. As far as he knew Kurt had been attacked physically. He just hoped that it wouldn't even get close to what he had survived...

He tensed up just thinking about it and he gave his mattress some good hits just to remind himself that he wasn't defenseless anymore and he wouldn't let Kurt be.

Blaine itched to call him, to make sure he was somehow alright but it was close to 2 am and he knew that they both should sleep.

So he closed his eyes and started blasting Katy Perry mentally while repeating successions of strikes in his head until he didn't have to think at all and sleep let him rest.