“Can I ask you something?” Kurt met Blaine's gaze through his computer screen. Blaine blinked, a little unsure of where this was going.

“Anything,” Blaine answered.

“Tell me what happened between you and your dad when you were here for Christmas?” Kurt asked.

Blaine sighed. He should have known this was coming. “What do you want to know, exactly?”

“I know that you and your dad had some kind of falling out,” Kurt murmured. “It was in some of the papers when Dalton first became a household name, but there were no specifics.”

“The summer I turned thirteen,” Blaine began, “I told my dad I was gay.”

“Okay,” Kurt said. Blaine sighed again.

“He didn't... take it well,” he told Kurt. “It started off slow. Little things – he suddenly wanted to take me to all these sporting events, and once we even rebuilt a car engine.”

“Oh, no,” Kurt muttered. His eyes had gone wide, and Blaine knew that Kurt knew where the story was going.

“The teasing at school got so bad, and it finally escalated,” Blaine continued. “One of them beat me up, so my parents decided to enroll me at Crawford.”

“Blaine, I-” Kurt looked upset, like he was on the verge of tears.

“The entire time, my dad acted like it was my fault. Like, because I was gay, I was asking to be treated that way.” Blaine laughed harshly. “It only got worse when I joined the glee club at Crawford – but I was hooked. I knew then that I loved performing and I was in all the school productions.”

“And then you auditioned for Dalton.” Kurt replied.

“Yeah,” Blaine breathed out. “I did it in secret, because I knew he'd never support it.” He shrugged. “Then I got the call back. I told my mother.”

“I take it it didn't go well,” Kurt prodded him to keep talking.

“No, it didn't,” Blaine confirmed. “My dad kind of... lost it.” He looked away for a long moment, unable to meet Kurt's eyes. “The things he said...”

“Blaine, I don't know what to say,” Kurt whispered. Blaine watched as a tear when down his cheek.

“Long story short, my mom insisted I fly out for the call back. She went with me. I got the role, and we moved to LA,” Blaine finished. “My parents marriage kind of fell apart, but my dad refuses to divorce her. He says it's not good for 'appearances.'” Blaine felt himself tearing up now. “He blames me.”

“It's not your fault, Blaine,” Kurt insisted.

“I know,” Blaine sniffled. “I know it's not, but it feels like it is.” He wiped away a stray tear. “I emancipated myself because I didn't want him having control over me or my money,” he finished. “Which just pissed him off further. So now, every Christmas, we make our trip home and I spend a few days letting him belittle me.”

“God, Blaine, I had no idea.”

“I never wanted anyone to know.” Blaine confessed. “This last time, I – I told him about you.” Blaine's eyes locked on Kurt's. “The things he said....” he paused. “He can say what he wants about me, but I'll be damned if I sit there and listen to him say the same things about you.”

Kurt seemed at a loss for words.

“So I left. The only thing I wanted was you.”

“You have me,” Kurt finally managed. “I'm... I'm going to call you, okay?”

“Okay?” Blaine was confused.

“We're going to fall asleep on the phone together.”

“I love you,” Blaine murmured.

“I love you, too,” Kurt replied. “I'm calling you now.” The computer screen went dark and Blaine took a deep, shaky breath.

His phone rang, and Blaine smiled. No matter what, he knew he'd always have Kurt.