Kurt's vision corrected slowly as he refilled the air that had been forced out of his lungs with the blow. He could hear Blaine punched the locker again and again with the same fist, and he forced his legs to work. He stumbled over and grabbed Blaine's elbow, letting go and backing away in time to avoid another reactionary attack.

            "Blaine," he croaked, gasping for another breath.

            It wasn't hard to see that Kurt was terrified. It was in his eyes, and Blaine couldn't blame him because he was just as terrified of himself now. His knuckles were bleeding and it terrified him how good that felt. He'd been through classes and sessions, he knew the self harm was not okay, he'd gone through exercises and taken up boxing specifically to help with it. He'd spent so much time being so upset and now he'd hurt Kurt. He'd hurt the boy who meant more to him than anything. The boy he'd just, just told he loved. That beautiful boy, that beautiful, soft, sweet face was wincing in pain that he'd inflicted and the horror of what that meant and the guilt was rising up in a strangle hold. All he wanted to do was to take his bloody knuckles and slam them into the locker again.

            Kurt felt tired and shaky and was fighting to recover from dizziness. He reached out and took Blaine by the wrist with both hands and just looked at him, seriously and right in the eye. His big, scared eyes were trying to hide behind the serious expression on his face as he held Blaine's wrist gently, avoiding the blood, then led him to pick up both the discarded coat and dropped scarf before silently leading him down the hall.

            Blaine felt awful. He felt like the worst person in the entire world. He felt all the things that were so carefully dealt with, repressed, were all coming back to taunt him in waves. He just kept murmuring, "I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have followed me. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry."

            Kurt lead him into the closest boy's bathroom, took him to the sink and stuck Blaine's fist under the tap while he turned on the cold water to run over it. Blaine didn't even flinch. He just watched his blood run pink down the drain with the water, repeating the words over and over.

            Finally Kurt whispered hoarsely, "It's okay," and Blaine could feel himself lose it. He wiped his eyes with his free hand to stop the sting from the tears.

            "No, it's not. It isn't..."

            "Just let me look at your hand," Kurt commanded. He turned off the tap and pulled Blaine's hand out from under the spout and dabbed it with a folded paper towel. He balanced himself on the edge of one of the sinks and looked carefully at the wound, then he ran it under the water again, this time applying some soap first, which stung, but Blaine tried not to react or pull away. Kurt let the cold water wash all the soap away before getting a clean paper towel folded length-wise and pressing it to the wound securely, holding it with both hands and wrapping it around so it would stay put.

            Blaine couldn't help but notice the way Kurt's hands shook, or the way he avoided looking Blaine in the eye while he made sure his hand was cleaned properly. When Kurt pressed his lips to the back of Blaine's hand, the part that hadn't been hurt, he closed his eyes and whispered, "I'm so sorry, Kurt."

            Once again, the answer he got was, "It's okay," and he had to insist it wasn't, his voice shaking while he did.

"You were hurt," Kurt reminded him. "You were upset and you had every right to be. I shouldn't have followed you. You told me not to."

            "That's no excuse," Blaine whispered.

            "I know," Kurt whispered back.

            Blaine shuddered, "Finn... Finn's right... you shouldn't be with me."

            "He's not right," Kurt said.

            "Yes, he is!" Blaine realized his voice was rising and shot it back down again. He was covering up the fear and the anguish with agression, the way he'd always dealt it. He couldn't stop feeling ashamed of himself. "I hurt you..."

            "I'm okay."

            Blaine's lips parted and his chest felt like it was caving in. "...You're not..."

            Kurt tried to smile. "I'm fine."

            "Let me see?" Blaine didn't move, he just stared at him. He knew exactly how hard he'd thrown Kurt into the locker. He wanted to know that it wasn't worse than he thought.

            Kurt ran his tongue across the back of his teeth. He didn't want to show Blaine the damage he'd done. He didn't want him to see what he found out later when he got home that night before taking his shower; that there were red marks all down his back, and the shoulder that hit the lockers first was bruised badly, as were his shoulder blades from where they'd struck. One of them had even broken the skin and showed a small scrape that hurt to touch. The arm that Blaine had grabbed was slightly bruised and his wrist hurt when he moved it. He was lucky that his arm hadn't been dislocated. Showering was painful and he had to take several pain killers before bed and sleep on his stomach.

            "We have to break up," Blaine whispered after Kurt recoiled.

            "What?"

            "Finn was right. We have to break up," Blaine said, more loudly now. His eyes were shimmering from the tears he was trying to blink back.

            Kurt walked toward the door and Blaine's eyes followed him desperately. He grabbed a chair that was sitting in the corner, brought it over, and made Blaine sit. Then he took Blaine's hand again. "Finn is not right. Spread out your fingers. Let me make sure you didn't break anything."

            Blaine tried to comply, but his hand was shaking mercilessly. His shoulders shuddered as Kurt's fingers slid beneath his to help him, still pressing the paper towel against the wounds. "I hurt you, Kurt..."

            "It's not that bad," Kurt tried to insist.

            "That's no excuse."

            "I know."

            "I hurt you."

            "I know."

            Kurt's passive demeanor was frustrating. Blaine wished he were in a position to either yell or apologize, to hold Kurt, to deal with how badly he'd inevitably hurt him. He was trying not to just break down and sob. "I hurt you. I care about you so much and I still hurt you. I swore I never would, not for anything, but I did. I don't deserve you. I'm no good for you... We can't be together, Kurt. Finn knew. He knew that you can't be with someone as... v...as violent as I am."

            "You are not violent," Kurt muttered, keeping his eyes on Blaine's now extended fingers, touching them gently and watching them react.

            Blaine took a breath, "Let me see your back."

            Kurt dropped Blaine's hand and flinched away as he reached out.

            Blaine nodded slowly, wiping a few tears off his cheek. "You have to break up with me, Kurt."

            Kurt snorted, but he was no longer touching Blaine and his sore arm was tucked slightly behind him. "What? No."

            "You have to," Blaine insisted, "Please...Because I can't do it. I can't leave you. You're the most amazing person I've ever met... But you can't be with me. You can't be with someone who hurts you. You shouldn't be. Not ever."

            "So, don't hurt me."

            There was a silence as the words built up and Blaine finally spat, "I already have! I'm... I'm abusive!"

            "Stop it, Blaine!" Kurt shouted. There were tears in his eyes too and he was hunching his shoulders just slightly. Sam's white shirt was wrinkled and the sleeves were pushed up off Kurt's forearms, but sliding back down. "I'm a guy too. I can take being pushed around a little. What do you think? That I'm fragile? That you'll break me? Damnit, Blaine! You want Finn to win? After everything we've been through? After how much you mean to me?"

            "Kurt... You can't be in an abusive relationship. This is pointless..."

"You didn't abuse me, Blaine. You told me to stay away and I didn't listen."

"You have to end it!"

            Kurt kicked the coat that was lying on the bathroom floor, probably soaking up germs. "Stop telling me what to do!" Blaine's jaw snapped shut. "I don't care, Blaine! I don't care what you've done. If you've hurt people in the past... I just wasn't expecting it. I don't care that you threw me into a locker. You got mad. I followed you. I should have known better. I should have..." he trailed off.

            "What?" Blaine said dryly, "Known that I've got violent tendencies? Should have read that... damn file?!"

            Kurt just breathed deeply for a few moments, glaring at the sink that was still glistening from the water that had been running in it just moments before. He couldn't tell if he was mad, or upset, or if it was just the throb of pain up his back and shoulders, but he was having trouble keeping back tears and thinking rationally. He knew what he wanted to happen...

Finally he looked back at Blaine and scooped up the hand that had dropped to Blaine's knee, and resumed his examination of it. "I should have never brought it up."

            Blaine snorted, then sniffed and wiped his cheeks with the back of his hand. "What, and lied about it?"

            Kurt's voice was very soft and steady, "I should have realized that there were files in that folder for a reason. I wasn't going to lie to you, or pretend it never happened, but... I should have known that whatever it was... wasn't okay. I should have known that bringing it up could trigger you... set you off..."

            "How?" Blaine asked softly, "It's not like you knew. It doesn't change what I did."

            "No, but... I could have brought it up more gently. Blaine..." he crouched in front of him, not quite willing to let his jeans touch the floor of the bathroom, and took both his hands. "I'm so sorry. All of this... this is my fault."

            "It's not your fault-" Blaine tried to cut in.

            "I'm so sorry," he repeated, looking Blaine directly in the eye, then letting go of one of Blaine's hands so he could wipe a tear off his own cheek. Blaine reached out and caught the next one with the index finger his uninjured hand. He whispered Kurt's name as Kurt sniffed and moved to readjust the paper towel bandage to be more secure.

They stayed there in silence for a moment, Blaine's heart beating hard in this chest, but as long as he could focus on the brush of Kurt's fingers against his skin, his mind stayed calm. He took a deep, calming breath, "Kurt?"

            Kurt looked up and raised his eyebrows but didn't make a sound.

            "Do you remember after Regionals... after you won... you asked me to forgive you?" Kurt's eyes dropped back toward Blaine's lap and his mouth set straight. "I didn't get to say anything, but... there was nothing to forgive, Kurt." One of Kurt's eyebrows twitched. "It hurt to be apart from you... at the time... but it's what you needed to do, and I understood. You didn't need to ask forgiveness for that, you don't need it, but you have it, Kurt... You always have it."

            Kurt smiled and pressed his lips to the back of Blaine's hand again, then stood up. He nodded, but was watching the stalls now rather than Blaine's face. Blaine reached out and touched Kurt's hand opposite his own, letting their fingers lace together between them.

            "Can you ever forgive me?" he asked.

            Kurt smiled, just a little at first, then it grew tightly in his cheeks and Blaine watched the dimples in his cheeks emerge. Kurt stepped so that he was directly in front of Blaine, let go of both his hands, and cupped them under his chin. Then he tilted Blaine's head up and pressed his lips against Blaine's forehead. "Same answer," he whispered.

            Blaine closed his eyes. He could feel tears run down his cheeks. Kurt's thumbs carefully wiped them away, then he moved and Blaine's eyes opened to follow him.

            "Now, let's get out of the boy's bathroom," Kurt said, scooping up the things that were on the floor. "It smells in here. Honestly I should have taken you into the girl's room." Blaine reached out to accept his coat from Kurt, but Kurt held it tight against his chest, using it to cover up the arm that hurt. "I can carry it."

            "Kurt..."

            "And I'll keep your scarf," he said, wrapping it around his neck with a smirk, "So I can use it as leverage if you try to just run off and leave me." Blaine laughed bitterly and stood up, reaching for it again, but Kurt stepped past him and headed for the door, holding Blaine's things. "My bag is still in my locker, so we have to stop there before we leave." He opened the door and stepped out of it, holding it open for Blaine, who followed after dragging the chair back to its place in the corner.

            "The scarf doesn't match your shirt," Blaine teased once they were outside the bathroom and the door was shut. He reached over and tugged the bottom of the scarf gently with his good hand, not enough to tighten it, but more as an excuse to stand so close to Kurt. He wanted to collapse into him and cry into his chest, even though the guilt was begging him to ask about Kurt's back again, to make sure he really was okay.

            Kurt smiled and leaned forward for a kiss, which Blaine hesitated before giving him. Their lips pressed together gently, and then Kurt pulled back and whispered so that Blaine could still feel Kurt's lips moving against his, "It'll match what I'm wearing to coffee on Wednesday."

            Blaine's eyes went wide. "We-we're still meeting for coffee?"

            "Of course! Now let's get my bag. It's probably time we both got home." He took Blaine's arm while they walked down the hall.

            "Should I drive you home?" Blaine asked after they'd stiffly passed the place where Kurt had hit the locker. Whoever owned the locker on the opposite side would be surprised by the dent in the morning.

            Kurt opened him mouth to speak, then wet his lips before he said, "I was going to ask you the same thing."

            "I'm fine to drive," Blaine insisted, pressing his injured hand closer to his side. "Let me take you."

            Kurt nodded. "Okay."

            When they stopped at Kurt's locker he pulled out his bag and slung it over his shoulder, much more carefully than he normally would have, and turned his face away so that Blaine couldn't see him wince as the strap pressed against his back. Once they had it, they left the school and both climbed into Blaine's car. Kurt knew that it was probably better that he didn't try to drive himself, although he didn't say that it was because his stomach felt empty like he might puke at any time and it hurt so much every time he moved his shoulders that he got spots in his vision.

            Blaine's stomach was in knots. Every time he looked over at Kurt he could see his discomfort. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked gently when they'd stopped at a stop sign.

            Kurt's eyes were closed when he asked, and he opened them to glance over at Blaine with a sad smile, "I'm fine. Please trust me."

            When they reached Kurt's house, Blaine turned off the engine and turned to him. "I'm so sorry I hurt you, Kurt."

            Kurt smiled. "I'm alright."

            "...Are we okay?"

            Kurt hummed and thought for a moment. "... Blaine? Not today, not right now, but someday... someday will you tell me what happened back there? To help me understand?"

            Blaine's eyes got big and scared and his lips parted, but he pressed them closed again and then said, "Yes."

            Kurt smiled and touched Blaine's hand where it rested on the console. "Then we're okay!" He leaned in for another quick kiss, then climbed out of the car, trying to be quick and fluid, despite how it hurt to move, and attempting to hide his back, although Blaine already caught a glimpse. Through the thin, white shirt he could see that Kurt's skin was already discolored.

            Blaine waited until Kurt waved, went inside, and the door had been closed for several minutes before he started his car again and drove home, trying to remember he needed to properly bandage his hand, like Kurt had suggested, once he got there. He was going over lines in his head, trying to remind himself not to beat himself up over what happened. He'd need to dig his psychiatrist's number out. He'd need to go in as soon as possible.

            Kurt went straight to his room, being unable to bring himself to look his dad in the eye, and had to sneak down in the middle of the night to get a bite to eat when he was unable to sleep and finally couldn't take his hunger anymore.

            When his alarm went off Tuesday morning he groaned and was barely able to get up. He went to the mirror and checked his back. It had gone from mostly red to mostly bruised. He took a hot shower with the water on as softly as it could go, then texted Blaine, I forgot to make sure you got home okay last night. before going downstairs to tell his dad that he was staying home sick from school.

            "What's up, Kurt?" Burt asked once he'd announced it, grabbing a cup of lowfat Greek yogurt and digging in immediately to balance out how little he'd eaten the night before. "You've been acting weird for a while now, and then there was that fight with Finn that no one's talking about and now you say you're sick? You know I'm just here to help, right? That you can talk to me?"

            Kurt sighed and sat down in the chair beside his dad, who was eating his own breakfast, and leaned his head against his shoulder. "I know, dad. And I do, I need to talk to you."

            "This isn't all a dating thing, is it?" Kurt shook his head, "Is it bullying? Because you know if it is we need to fix that. You can't be missing school because of bullies."

            Kurt shook his head. "No. It's not that. Bullies are all taken care of. I talked to the guy who was giving me trouble, we sat in Miss Pillsbury's office and talked and now it's okay."

"Good! I'm proud of you, Kurt," Burt said, taking a bite of his breakfast.

Kurt pressed his forehead against his dad's shoulder. "Are you working this morning?"

            Burt chewed and then patted Kurt's knee. "I can go in a few hours late."

            Kurt smiled, "Are Finn and Carole still here?"

            "Carole had an early shift. Finn will probably be down in a few minutes."

            "Okay. I'm going to take something to feel better," he didn't mention that what he had in mind were pain killers for his back, "Then I'll go up to my room and eat my yogurt. I'll come back down after Finn's left. Can we meet on the couch?"

            Burt nodded and smiled. "I'll be there. Do you want any toast or anything to go with your yogurt?"

            Kurt considered for a moment, then nodded, thanked his dad, who got up to make it, and headed for the medicine cabinet, then to his room.

            On his phone there was a message from Blaine, I did. Are you okay?

            Yes, he lied, What about you? Did your hand swell up? Then he sent a quick message to Mercedes to let her know he wouldn't be at school, and one to Rachel to pick up his homework for him. Then the response from Blaine came.

            Nope. It looks like it'll be fine thanks to you for taking care of me.

            I'm glad. He replied.

            Me too.

            Burt brought the toast up, knocking on the door and giving Kurt just enough time to lower his shirt and step away from the mirror before walking in, handing him the plate and giving him a status report on Finn's progress through breakfast.

            Kurt ate the toast slowly while staring at the last text from Blaine and waited until he was sure he heard Finn's car leave before he walked downstairs. He'd changed into soft fleece pajama pants and a well-worn t-shirt with a big, soft hoodie over it. He figured that if he were going to stay inside the house all day anyway he might as well dress for maximum comfort in order to heal faster.

            Burt was already on the couch flipping through the TV guide when Kurt walked downstairs, padding about in his slippers. He returned his plate to the kitchen before joining his dad on the couch.

            They sat facing each other in silence for a moment before Burt prompted, "Feel any better?"

            Kurt shrugged with his head, careful not to move his shoulders.

"So, what'daya want to talk about?"

            Kurt sighed, "I think I need to recap a bit."

            "I'm all ears."

            "Well, starting... starting in December I had some problems with a bully. The one Puckerman punched."

Burt nodded, "Thought so..."

"Anyway, I managed to work it out, like I said-"

            "I'm proud of you for that. But you know you could have come and talked to me about it?"

            "I know... Actually, things have gotten a lot better at school. There's a lot more bullying awareness and prevention stuff. Mr. Schuester started it, and... and Blaine helped me a lot too. We made a list... the bullying has practically stopped. Poof!"

            "...Except?" Burt prompted.

            Kurt closed his eyes, "Except..." He needed to stop beating around the bush. "Except Finn."

            "Finn?" Burt raised his eyebrows and sat up straighter. "What the hell's he done?"

            Kurt quickly amended it, "It's not like he's done anything physical or anything..."

            "What's he done?"

            Kurt's shoulders slumped. Even with what was possibly an overdose of painkillers, his back still stung where the skin had broken and it throbbed where bone pressed skin when he shifted. "He's been trying to break up Blaine and me."

            Burt frowned, "Why? I thought those two got along."

            "That's what I thought! But his has this folder of stuff and he thinks that Blaine's violent..."

            "Is Blaine violent?" Burt asked, pointedly.

            "No!" Kurt said, entirely too fast. Then he sighed again.

            "No?"

            "That's what I want to talk to you about, Dad. What if... what if he were violent? What if there were things in his past that were really bad and what if... what if he ended up hurting me?"

            "Has he hurt you?" Burt was boring holes into Kurt with his eyes, but Kurt avoided his gaze. His voice dropped to a whisper.

            "Just... what if?"

            Burt thought about it for a few seconds, then shifted his position on the couch. "I think you're going to have to be more specific, kid."

            There was a long silence, then Kurt asked, "What constitutes an abusive relationship?"

            Burt sat up straight and touched Kurt's shoulder. He tried hard not to flinch. "Kurt, I don't know what's going on, but you asking questions like that... Buddy, that's scaring me."

            "Sorry," Kurt said, "I just wondered." He started to stand up, but Burt caught his arm and coaxed him down again.

            "Hey there, if we're gonna talk about this then we're gonna talk about it." He got Kurt to look him in the eye, but lost his gaze as soon as he asked. "Do you think you're in an abusive relationship with Blaine?"

            "No," Kurt answered.

            Burt sighed, "Kurt, you're gonna have to give me more than that."

            Kurt decided to back up again. He didn't want to have to lie to his dad about anything. Deep down he knew that all he wanted was to know that it was okay to keep dating Blaine. He needed to hear that from Burt. "Sunday night, Finn tried to show me this file he has about Blaine."

            "...What's in this file?"

            "I don't know. I didn't really look, but he must have stalked him quite a bit to find it all. Or... he said Rachel found it, but she has no problem with Blaine, Dad. She likes him. It's just Finn trying to sabotage everything."

            "Okay, calm down. So you saw this file?"

            "That's what we were fighting about. I told him he shouldn't have it."

            "Well, probably not, but maybe he was just looking out for you."

            "That's what he said, but Dad... I mean, there were police reports in it and a psychiatric report... I didn't read it, but based on what Finn said..."

            "... You...?"

            "...I just...This has been going on for a while now. Finn's been really weird and trying to turn the glee club against Blaine and I guess I... I just..."

            "You started having doubts?"

            Kurt nodded and started picking at his fingernails. "And then I couldn't not tell Blaine. So... I did. Yesterday." Again, Burt was silent. Kurt could feel tears welling up in his eyes. He couldn't even lean back and sink into the couch because his back hurt. "And he freaked out, Dad."

            Burt pulled Kurt in with one arm, aware now of how Kurt turned himself to allow the least possible amount of contact. "Hey, it's okay. He freaked out how? Did he hurt you?"

            "He said... he had to go. He didn't want me to follow him, but I did. ... And he said Finn was right. He said we had to break up," his voice cracked and broke.

            "Is that why you're staying home? You two broke up?"

            Kurt shook his head against his dad's shoulder. "No. We didn't break up."

            Burt sighed and closed his eyes. He'd wanted a glimpse into his son's life for quite a while now, but now that he was getting it in shattered bits and pieces it was almost more than he wanted to know. Not knowing everything was almost worse than knowing nothing at all.

            "I think," Burt started slowly, and Kurt sniffed and grew very still to listen, "That an abusive relationship is one where you know you've gotta get out of it, even just a little bit, but you don't think you can. Like, you don't feel like you can come and talk to me about it. Or if you're scared of what might happen if you did break up. Maybe... if something that he does, that anyone does, or says, or whatever, makes you feel worthless or like you don't matter, that's how you'd know. Because you matter, Kurt. You matter a lot, and if you ever feel like someone's trying to tell you that you don't, then that person's wrong and you don't need to be with him. And... and if they hit you, or they try to get you to do something you don't like, then that's abuse. You're a smart kid, Kurt, and you're sweet and trusting, but you've never been stupid. I think that... if you're ever in a position where you're being manipulated or hurt, you'll know, and you'll know what needs to be done. And... if that happens, you'll come and talk to me, okay?" Kurt nodded. His eyes were closed. Burt leaned his head against Kurt's. "Did he hurt you, Kurt?"

            Kurt sucked in his lips and chewed on the inside of his cheek. "...He didn't mean to."

            Burt's pulse quickened and there was suddenly a ringing in his ears. He could feel Kurt's fingers digging into his sleeve. "Show me."

            "He told me not to follow him, Dad," Kurt said, not moving. "He freaked out and he tried to get away from me and I chased him. It wasn't like he meant to... I think it was self defense, but he..." he took a breath, "I hit the lockers. I mean... and he was so upset... that'd he'd hurt me. He just kept apologizing and saying we had to break up."

            "Let me see."

            Kurt moved away from his dad, but didn't show him yet, "It doesn't hurt as bad as it looks."

            "Yeah, right. If it didn't hurt, you wouldn't have stayed home from school. And did he give you a ride? Is that why your car isn't here?"

            "Yeah..."

            "Alright. Lemme see."

            "Dad... with your heart..."

            "Kurt, you're giving me palpitations making me sit here worrying. Show me how bad it is."

            Kurt chewed on his bottom lip. Very slowly he pulled off both his hoodie and t-shirt, then turned around so his dad could see his back.

            "Shit." Burt hissed, and Kurt could feel the couch move and hear his dad's breathing change. He was trying to stay calm. "Anywhere else?" he tried not to snap.

            "He grabbed my arm. It's not bad. It's just... I mean, he took self defense for years. I don't think he meant to throw me like that."

            Burt very gingerly touched Kurt's shoulder just under where the laceration was. "Does he know how bad it is?"

            "No," Kurt whispered. "He wanted to, but I just kept telling him I was okay."

            "You're not okay, Kurt."

            "I know."

            "Well, this certainly puts me on Finn's side."

            "Dad!" Kurt turned his head and looked pleadingly at Burt.

            "Have you seen this?"

            "Yes," Kurt mumbled. Not only had he seen it, but he could feel it, painfully, all the time.

            Burt took a deep, calming breath and let it out slowly, "What have you taken for it?" Kurt listed off how many pain killers he'd taken since he first got home and Burt just nodded along. "Have you put ice on it?"

            "I will."

            "And Carole's gotta look at it when she gets home."

            Kurt nodded, "Okay."

            "Is there anything else? Did he do anything else?"

            Kurt carefully pulled his shirt back on with his dad's help. He knew he looked like he'd been beaten severely, but it he was sure it was partly having such a pale skin tone. He'd been bruised by being shoved into lockers before. He sometimes even bruised from sleeping strangely. There was a good chance someone with thicker skin wouldn't have been bruised at all, he thought. "He punched a locker, afterwards," he mumbled. "I cleaned up his hand. He didn't mean to. He was upset."

            Burt was breathing heavily. Honestly he wanted to drive over to that fancy-ass school and teach the kid a lesson for hurting his son, but he knew that'd only be worse. "You know this doesn't make me want to let you see him again."

            "I know, Dad," Kurt whispered. "But I want to."

            "Do you know where that folder is?"

            Kurt had his hoodie on again now and appreciated how soft and secure it felt. "It's probably still in Finn's room. I'm going to take it and give it back to Blaine."

            "Are you gonna read it?"

            Kurt shook his head. "I shouldn't know those things before Blaine tells me. I know he had a rough past. I know he had bully trouble. He told me he got beat up... I'm just going to get it back for him. When he wants me to know, he'll tell me."

            Burt closed his eyes, "Kurt, you know, you're probably the best kid ever, and it's not hard to see what that Blaine guy sees in you..."

            Kurt snorted and rolled his eyes. Sometimes he wasn't sure, but he knew exactly what he saw in Blaine, and he knew that he'd seen it clearly when Blaine was pleading with him to break up because he didn't want to hurt him again.

            "... But I don't like how this thing with him is going."

            "I know, but I don't think..."

            "I want him to come over here."

"...Right now?"

 "Well, after he gets out of school. That'd be best. Rather than you two going out, I want him to come here and I want to look him in the eye. I want to hear his side of the story."

"I don't know, Dad..."

"I'm not asking you to humor me. I'm telling you how it's going to be. We clear?"

Kurt hung his head a little, but nodded.

"Alright. I love you, Kurt. You're important to me, and I want you to be safe."

"I know. I love you too."

"How's about you lie down on the couch and watch some TV, and I'll get a few ice packs for your back. It looks like you might've got a bump on the back of your head too. We're gonna put something on that."

Kurt agreed, "I'll just get my phone and my laptop and bring them down here."

"You lie down. I'll get ‘em."

Burt got up and Kurt lay down carefully, stretching out on his stomach as much as he could, letting his feet rise up over the arm of the couch. As Burt started for the kitchen, Kurt stopped him, asking, "Dad? So... you don't think Blaine's violent, or abusive, right?"

            Burt rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I think... there's a lot more we need to know about that kid, and I intend to find it out, okay? But if you don't think so, and if you still like him, then there's a good possibility we're going to be okay."

            Kurt nodded and rubbed his cheek against the throw pillow. "Thanks, Dad."