Somehow, Kurt had managed to see Blaine every day for the rest of the week. They'd gone shopping for shoes on Thursday, and Kurt had ended up with more shoes than Blaine, which had made Blaine giggle adorably. On Friday Kurt managed to invite Blaine over to dinner without allowing his somewhat suspicious, and recently extended, family to behave too strangely, and without confirming whether or not they were dating. On Saturday they'd ended up back at Lima Bean and then gone to see a movie together. Kurt had managed to ignore the curious inquiries from his friends all week, other than to gush privately to Mercedes over lunch Friday and assure her she was still the only woman in his life. Come Sunday, however, the realization that Karofsky would be back at school hit him hard.

            There wasn't much homework to do that weekend, luckily, because he'd been sitting in his room skimming the same chapter for over an hour wondering if he'd be safe if he wore a disguise or became Puck's backpack. His father came to check on him and reassured him that the kid had probably learned his lesson, but that if he so much as looked at Kurt funny he was going to get his ass expelled. It helped, but it didn't solve anything. After another miserable hour, Kurt reached for his phone. Although his friends knew Sunday was his homework and outfit planning day and wouldn't have called, and he'd told Blaine the same, he was hoping there would be a message on it.

            The screen lit up and there was nothing. He scrolled through his contacts until he found Blaine's name. It read Blaine Warbler and it made him smile just to look at the words. There was also a picture of Blaine in his phone from their shopping excursion where Blaine was wearing a wide brimmed hat, aviators, and holding four different bowties up under his chin while grinning at the camera. Kurt liked that side of Blaine. The dashingly dapper side made his heart beat fast and his body heat rush to places which were unmentionable and made public interactions require long, concealing clothing, but the dorky side that Blaine tried so hard to hide, but which peeked out occasionally... that was Kurt's favorite. When Blaine didn't just laugh, but actually giggled, and when he got overly excited about something small like the sunny weather or how cute he thought toddler-sized designer shoes were, even when Kurt thought it was stupid and rolled his eyes, he was completely taken with him.

            He pressed his fingers into the keys carefully, revising the message over and over again in his head and finally sent, What would you say to me transferring to Dalton and joining the Warblers?

            He was hoping he'd receive a quip back, something along the lines of, Only if you can pull off the blazer! which he totally could, or else, The homework will only be harder! or, The solos are mine! or something like that.

No response, so he let his mind wander back to how much it had hurt to be shoved into the lockers-something he'd come to enjoy living without-and to the complete terror he'd felt the weeks leading up to that fight. He used to take the long way to his locker or to classes if he knew it would allow him to avoid Karofsky or any of the other football players who would shove him or taunt him or threaten to beat him up. He had timed himself in gym class to never be in the locker room when Finn or another one of the Glee guys weren't in there. For all of high school he'd been bullied, but Karofsky had been a different kind of bully this year. It wasn't just idle threats and mild abuse, it was serious. He couldn't believe how lucky he was that Puck had gotten himself thrown into the mix, and had no idea what might have happened if he hadn't. But now the respite was over. What if things went back to being difficult again?

His phone buzzed. He picked it up and flipped it open. On the screen was Blaine's response: Is everything okay?

In Kurt's throat, just above his heart, a lump immediately formed. It affected his breath, which came out in three short gasps before he felt his nose get warm and tears well up against the bottom lid of his eye. He swallowed to choke it all back down. It wasn't as bad as that. Puck had punched Karofsky in the face. Puck said he'd do it again. Finn was there for him as more than just friends: they were brothers now. Karofsky wouldn't be a problem.

The Neanderthal's suspension ends tomorrow.

Almost immediately a text came back.

Do you want to talk?

"Yes" Kurt thought. He did want to talk, but he didn't want to cry over the phone to Blaine. He wanted Blaine to think he was cool, not to know he was terrified over something as little and silly as a former high school bully who probably didn't care at all about making his life hell anymore.

Kurt decided to send, I'm fine. I just need to remember to be brave.

A few minutes later the phone buzzed again and this time it said, I'll remind you.

Kurt stared at the message and then grinned. It wasn't much but it was sweet. It was more than sweet, it negated all the horrible feelings of dread Kurt had about the following day. He hugged the phone to his chest. If this wasn't what falling in love was like, then he didn't understand love at all.

The next day there weren't any problems. Finn had insisted, at Burt's request, on walking Kurt to his first class, and from there the Glee club seemed to have formed an escort service to cart Kurt around between classes so he'd never be alone. He appreciated it, but after having to walk with Santana and Brittney, the latter who wanted to hold his hand and the former who didn't want to allow it, it just seemed tedious. He hadn't caught a single glimpse of Karofsky. For all he knew, Puck had gotten the date wrong and all this attention was for nothing.

He was getting annoyed at having to be picked up and dropped off, but not everything was terrible. Every so often his pocket would vibrate and he'd sneak a peek only to find an all caps message from Blaine:

COURAGE

He couldn't hold back a smile against the tenseness in his cheeks. A few times he held his sleeve to his lips to keep from giggling in class. Even after the third one, it hadn't gotten old. It made his heart flutter to think Blaine was thinking about him so often. They'd only known each other a little over a week and already Blaine was thinking about him through the day.

COURAGE

It gave him loads, even if he didn't turn out to need any.

The end of the day rolled around and he hadn't had so much as a back-of-the-head sighting of the bully. He was packing up his books in his locker and talking to Mercedes and Sam, when the fifth message came. He was unable to contain his grin and so Mercedes snatched the phone out of his hand. So far she had a clearer idea of their relationship than anyone, but Kurt didn't want to go into further details with Sam hanging around. To avoid the affectionate look and coo and the questions she was shooting at him, he started digging through his bag, seeking out his iPod so he could drown her out with Lady Gaga.

But his iPod wasn't in his bag. He checked his locker and then looked around on the floor.

"Everything okay, man?" Sam asked.

"What're you looking for?" Mercedes asked.

Kurt thought hard. The only place it could have fallen out... where would that have been? "My iPod. I must have left it somewhere."

"Oh. Like your gym locker?" Sam asked.

Although that wouldn't have normally occurred to Kurt, it made sense. He tried not to swear. At least if it was there it wasn't stolen. He didn't need to be replacing expensive electronics like that right then. "That has to be where it is," he agreed.

"Yeah. I do that all the time. Leave stuff in my locker, I mean. Want me to go get it for you?"

"No, I can get it," Kurt replied, taking one last desperate look through the pockets of his bag.

"Kurt," Mercedes said sternly, "You shouldn't go back and look for it on your own."

Kurt paused. He knew she was right, but he was tired of the special treatment. What was bravery about, anyway? He'd be going places alone, being an open target, once the Glee club started to forget and stopped trying to treat him like an invalid. "I'll be fine. I haven't even seen Karofsky all day."

"Yeah? Well I have," she replied, "And minus the bruised face, he looks the same as always."

"Just tell me your combination and I'll run back and grab it, dude," Sam insisted. Kurt adjusted his bag on his shoulder.

"No," he replied. "I know this sounds stupid, but I'm fine. I should be able to go back to my own gym locker without being afraid I might somehow catch a glimpse of a big scary bully. There are bullies all over this school. I can't just hide out and have you guys run errands for me when one of them might be somewhere. This is my school too!"

"Kurt, you know that's not how it is..." Mercedes warned.

"I know. I'm just..." he sighed and gave her a pleading look. "It's not like I'm going to run into Karofsky between here and there anyway. You and Sam just go on ahead and I'll catch up in five minutes."

"Four minutes, no more," Mercedes corrected tartly, with her most motherly look planted on her face. Kurt scrunched up his lips affectionately at her.

"I'll catch right back up. I have my phone with me if anything does happen to happen." Then he closed his locker and went the opposite way back toward the gym.

He looked at the last message from Blaine again to steady himself before walking up to the locker room door. Courageous or not, he could feel his palms sweat with anticipation and his heartbeat quicken as his fight-or-flight reflex awakened.

COURAGE.

He cracked the door and looked in, listening intently. No one else was in the locker room. He breathed a sigh of relief and walked to his locker. Inside, his iPod was sitting innocently at the bottom. He smiled at it and scrolled through the first playlist. Bravery came in handy; he felt cool and confident. There had been no incidents, no gangbanging mass of homophobic marauders-

"Started hanging out in the locker room since I've been gone, have you?"

"No..." Kurt could feel an audible change in the air and would have sworn he could see his own breath. His teeth were already chattering. He clenched down on them to shut them up. He should have had Sam come. Why hadn't he had Sam come?

"Where're your little girl scouts? I thought they didn't let you out without holding someone's hand anymore."

Kurt shut his locker slowly. It was unfortunate that both exits were quickest reached from exactly where Karofsky was standing, seven feet away, staring Kurt down.

"Just let me leave," Kurt said softly. To him it sounded like the words reverberated off of every surface, making his voice sound hollow and empty.

"What was that?" Karofsky asked. He hadn't changed. That villainous undertone in his voice was still there.

Kurt's phone vibrated again and he held onto it, imagining another message of COURAGE from Blaine. He closed his eyes and pictured the text. "Just let me leave. I don't want to be around you."

"Yeah? Well I don't want to be around you either, but here you are."

"Let me go, Karofsky..."

"You know your little stunt with Puckerman's going to cost me any shot at a football scholarship?" He stepped closer, so Kurt stepped further back. If Karofsky would follow him down this set of lockers, he could duck around them and head up the next one and to the door as long as he was able to outrun the bulldozer. His mouth felt dry.

"You were bullying me," Kurt reminded him. "Puck was just standing up for me."

"Yeah... I'm sure you and Puck are very happy together."

Kurt's phone vibrated again and it caught Karofsky's attention.

"That him now? Calling to ask where his buttmonkey is?"

Kurt clenched the phone in his fist. It was Blaine. It was Blaine directing all the confidence and strength he had at Kurt. He didn't want to waste it. He raised his voice, "What is your problem with me, anyway? What are you so afraid of?"

"Oh? Other than you having a sick gay crush on me?"

Kurt felt like punching something, or kicking it. If he were as strong as Puck he'd have lunged at Karofsky. Instead he just yelled, "Oh I'm sure! That's every straight guy's nightmare, isn't it? That I'd somehow go for a sweaty, fat, ugly, lump like you."

Karofsky didn't hold back. He did hit something. He slammed the side of his fist against the nearest locker, making a horrible bang and took a few rushed steps closer. Kurt jumped and the color left his face. Karofsky yelled, "I swear to God I'll knock your face off, Hummel!"

Kurt's voice shook, "Yeah? Try it!" He could not believe he was challenging someone who could actually kill him with his bare hands, but it was too late to turn back. He'd had an escape route planned... what was it? It suddenly hurt to breathe. He felt dizzy. His legs felt weak. He channeled everything to his voice, "You can punch me all you want, but I am never going to change and neither are you. I'll always be gay and you'll be bald by the time you're thirty."

He hadn't realized how close Karofsky was till he realized he could smell him. He used OldSpice deodorant and it stunk up the air between them. Kurt hadn't realized he was within reach and suddenly his legs were too wobbly to stand on. Karofsky was quickly looming over him and he turned himself so that his back was against the locker, hoping to at least stand his ground. Defeated? Trapped? His phone was buzzing continuously in his hand. He squeezed it.

"Don't push me, Hummel." Karofsky's voice was softer and more terrifying than it had been when he was shouting. He was only two feet away. He was far too close. Kurt's voice was still stronger than his legs.

"You're still just a scared little child. You're going to go your entire life afraid that every gay guy is going to somehow convert you and you'll be miserable and beat up people who are better than you because you can't understand how completely ordinary you are!"

It was all in a single breath and it ended when Kurt gasped in the air from Karofsky's lungs. Their lips were pressed together. Kurt's cheeks were gripped in Karofsky's hands. His phone was still buzzing between them. Dave Karofsky's lips were surprisingly soft, but all Kurt could feel was the desperate panic rushing through him. There was nowhere to go, with his back up against the locker he couldn't even pull away. This guy threatened him. He hurt him. Were they...?

Karofsky was kissing him.

After a long moment the perpetrator pulled away. The disgust was showing plainly on Kurt's contorted face, but Karofsky didn't care. That was right. For the first time in his life that was what he wanted more than anything; Kurt's soft lips, his breath, his face, his body... Karofsky leaned in quickly for another kiss, but it didn't land this time.

As Karofsky leaned in again, Kurt put out both hands with a gasp, one still wrapped around his cell phone, and pushed hard against his chest. It wasn't enough to move Karofsky away, but he stopped for a split second, which let Kurt curl his body to the side, removing his vital organs and, more importantly, his lips from Karofsky's immediate path.

For a moment the Neanderthal just stared at Kurt. The phone had stopped buzzing. Kurt's eyes were huge with horror, and focused on nothing in particular. Karofsky slammed his fist into the locker above Kurt's head and saw how hard he flinched. He pushed himself away and stormed out before he could start crying. The best thing he'd experienced in his life, and he'd ruined it before it had even begun.

Kurt's hands were trembling, and he brought them to his lips to the sound of Karofsky violently exiting the locker room yelling, "Tell and I'll kill you!"

He'd just lost his first kiss to Dave Karofsky. His first ever real, official kiss with a boy... and it made him want to vomit.

His stomach curled in on itself. He tried to breathe. He tried hugging himself. He let his knees give way and knelt to the floor. How long had he been terrorized by this guy, and for what? To find out now that Karofsky just couldn't accept himself and was taking it out on him?

His phone buzzed again and tears were running down his cheeks. He'd wanted his first kiss to be with Blaine...

The call was from Mercedes. She was listed as My Diva in his phone. He opened it and she immediately asked, "Kurt? Kurt, what's taking so long? Sam's headed back to look for you." She'd called three times, having worried once the five minutes were up. Blaine's last text read, So how was your day?

Kurt had wanted his first kiss to be perfect...