Kurt had a feeling that the backlash from the callback list would be bad, but he never quite expected this.

            The cold ice stung as it cruelly splashed against his skin, the garishly red liquid stinging in his eyes, dripping down his face, and staining his new light blue button-down.  His face burned and his eyes watered as he made his way to the bathroom, but whether it was from humiliation or pain he couldn't tell.

            That was actually the worst part, he thought.  It wasn't just that it hurt. It was more that it was humiliating and degrading - having a slushie thrown in your face in front of the student body, your clothes and hair displaying for the rest of the day that you were an outcast and a loser. It made you seem like something less than human, that someone could push you around like that.

            And all this over some silly singing audition?

            Kurt slowly began to clean up, wiping the sticky liquid off of his face and out of his hair.  His shirt was ruined, there was no use even trying to salvage that.  It wasn't until he looked in the mirror to try and figure out what to do with his hair that he realized that he was crying.

            He wet a comb that he kept in his bag and had started trying to fix the sticky mess on top of his head when the door burst open hurriedly.  He wiped his eyes and prepared to leave, or hide, anything to help him from being seen in this vulnerable state. 

            But it was Blaine rushing through the door.  Blaine, panic in his eyes as he called out a horrified "Kurt, ohmygod" before moving quickly towards him and placing his hands on Kurt's shoulders in the most comforting way he could manage. "Are you okay?!"

            Kurt nodded, but Blaine could see the fear and hurt in his eyes. Kurt looked wrecked, a sopping, miserable mess stained with red dye who could barely stop himself from crying even as he managed a half-smile to try and calm Blaine down.

            "I can't believe those assholes. Puck mentioned something and I came running to find you as fast as I could." Blaine's voice grew from intensely quiet to more emotional and broken. "And then I saw the slush in the hallway and I knew...I should've been there to protect you or something..."

             "Blaine...this is not your fault.  You know that, right? Not at all," he said incredulously. 
            "I know...but I feel like I could've done something for you. Anything to protect you from my so-called friends."

            "That would've been impossible and you know it.  I'm fine now, I promise, just help me clean up?"

            Kurt turned back to the mirror to continue combing his hair. But Blaine could see that he was not "fine" and knew that he needed to help this boy, no matter what, so he watched him there in silence and tried to help by handing him paper towels.

            The final bell rang just as Kurt was finishing combing his hair. His muscles ached and his face hurt from crying, but Blaine was still there. And with one look in Kurt's eyes, watery and beaten-down, he knew that he didn't want Kurt to go back to class yet because he couldn't stand the thought of Kurt sitting there so distressed.

            "Come with me. I know a shortcut."

            Blaine unexpectedly pulls him by the hand out of the bathroom and down the empty hallway, and it's like the only thing Kurt can think of is how perfectly their hands seem to fit together and how it seems like they're moving down the hallway in slow-motion.  He still feels like shit, but with Blaine's hand there to anchor him, he feels like maybe it won't all be that bad.

            Blaine takes an unexpected turn down the hallway and instead of going to class, they go outside.

            "Blaine, where are you -"

            But he doesn't answer, just quietly shushes Kurt before leading him up a metal staircase to the roof of the school.  Baffled, Kurt looks around...and it is like paradise. A small garden has been planted on top of the school, a maze of beautiful flowers intertwined with plots of vegetables. It's like he can see forever from up here, and while Ohio isn't the prettiest of views, the sweet perfume of flowers combined with the fresh air...it's like heaven, immediately relaxing all his nerves and distress from just a few minutes ago.

            Blaine watches Kurt quietly, a small, private smile spreading across his face as he sees how much Kurt loves it up here.

            "Welcome to my hideout." Blaine spreads his arms out widely and proudly as he says it, as if he owned it.  "The science club has this ongoing project up here to grow a garden and I convinced them to let me borrow it. I mostly just use it when all of them down there get to be...too much. But I'd be more than willing to share it with someone," Blaine smiles, hopeful.

            "I love it up here, Blaine. It's...perfect," Kurt admits bashfully, and to him, it is.

            Blaine starts to smile widely, just for a second, before his expression shifts to something more concerned. He grabs Kurt's hands and leads him over to a nearby bench and sits him down. "Kurt, I need to tell you something." Kurt's wide, blue eyes are confused, and almost afraid, as if he fears the next thing to come out of Blaine's mouth will be something horrible.

            "Oh god, you aren't, like, dying or something, are you? Oh no, you are! Of course, a cute boy shows up in my life and he has to be the one who's terminally ill -"

            "Did you just say I was "cute"?"

            Kurt's face instantly turns about 17 shades of red as he freezes in his ramblings. But Blaine has the biggest smirk on his face and he even blushes a little bit too before he continues talking.

            "No, I'm fine, I promise," he laughs. "I just wanted to tell you something I've been thinking about for the past few days." Kurt nods as Blaine resumes his serious tone. "Lately, I've been feeling like everyone expects me to be that guy, you know? Like the whole school thinks I'm the "sports guy" or the "popular guy" or the "water polo guy". Especially my dad. But I wanna be just Blaine. Not some "guy", but myself. And while everyone else seems to be pushing me to conform or something...you are the only person who I feel like I can be myself around. Just...Blaine."

            "And that's all I've ever wanted you to be," Kurt says quietly. "I mean, at my old school, I never attempted to hide who I truly was - I was out, loud, and proud. But of course, I was bullied a lot for that, and I just grew so sick of coming home with bruises every night...and I told myself that at McKinley, it'd be different. I'd fly under the radar, not cause any scenes...but you came out of nowhere and changed all of that. You understand me completely, and you make me want to just...break free and be myself for once, instead of hiding and conforming to some stupid expectations just because people at this school want me to. Because you...are worth getting slushied in the face every single day, if that's what it takes."

            Both of them are overwhelmed with emotion but smiling weakly at each other. Somehow, while they were talking, they both turned on the bench so that their knees are touching and they are staring into each other's eyes.

            "Kurt," Blaine pauses and grins. "Did you really mean what you said before when you said I was cute?"

            Kurt stammers, "Well, I, uh, would -"

            And then Blaine's lips are on his and oh. Blaine kisses him firmly but sweetly, both hands on his face, as if he were trying to say everything he never could have in words. His lips are soft and he tastes like cinnamon-flavored gum. His hands lovingly caress his face as they get closer together, and they seem to interlock easily. This is by no means Kurt's first kiss, but this is the first one to feel...right. Perfect, almost.

            When they finally break apart, Blaine leans his forehead against Kurt's, one hand still remaining on his face, as if he never wants to let go. "Kurt Hummel," he says, studying Kurt's face thinking, Wow, I wouldn't mind getting lost forever in those beautiful blue eyes. But he pulls himself together enough to continue, "will you be my boyfriend?"

            Kurt doesn't even have to think about it. "Yes," he breathes out, before throwing his arms around Blaine's neck and kissing him again and again.

            Then Kurt comes to his senses and thinks about what they both just agreed to. "Wait, Blaine...are you sure you want to come out like this, right now? I mean, what will everyone else say - your team's probably already mad at you."

            Blaine grows sad as he pulls away from Kurt. "You're right," he admits. "And I don't want to drag you anymore into this - I cannot stand the sight of you getting hurt again, even if it is at the sake of us being ourselves."

            "Maybe we could be...secret boyfriends? Who knows, it could be kinda fun to hide it from everyone - and as long as I have you all to myself, I'm okay with whatever you want."

            "Yeah...I know I'm not really ready for everyone to know, but I couldn't take not being with you and telling you the truth anymore. As long as you're mine now, that's all that matters."

            "Of course I am." Kurt leans into kiss Blaine one more time, sweetly.

            "You know, the guidance counselor loves me, so I can probably get us passes to get excused from this last period - wanna make the most of it?"

            Kurt doesn't even have to answer that - he jumps on Blaine so quickly that they both fall down onto the bench, their lips never separating once.