Kurt woke up in a panic – thrashing, choking, sweating, the last remnants of his nightmare fading with the rising sun, and the gentle massaging of Blaine's fingertips on his scalp.

"Shhh" - Blaine's whispers followed his fingers, trying to soothe away the anxiety-fueled dreams - "You were having a nightmare, baby. Do you remember?"

Kurt's mouth work around air but he couldn’t say a word, his voice screamed away, his throat raw, aching from being squeezed. Kurt whimpered and nodded, resting his head against Blaine's chest, concentrating on Blaine's body as he breathed, the movement of his chest, the calming thump-thump-thump of his heart.

Blaine listened as Kurt's breathing slowed, and he finally returned to a place of comfort. Blaine breathed with him, matching the pace of his long inhales in and exhales out. Blaine had been up for hours already, his mind working too loudly for him to get much sleep. He hated the thought of pulling Kurt from his temporary peace to join him in reality, but they had to get started. The sooner they pressed charges against Dave, the better.

But there was one person they needed to talk to first.

"We have to go talk to your dad, love," Blaine said.

Kurt shook his head. "I…I don't think I can. I don't want him to think..."

"Don't want him to think what?" Blaine asked. He coaxed Kurt's eyes up. "Do you think this is your fault?"

Kurt couldn't answer, his heart and his head conflicted with different variations of the truth. But he didn't need to say anything to Blaine, his silence as much of an answer as his words.

"Kurt, you didn't do anything to make Dave do this to you,” Blaine insisted. “You didn't deserve it. Your father will understand. He's one of the good guys, remember?"

Kurt sighed. "I just don't want him to be disappointed in me."

Blaine sat up, taking Kurt with him.

"Don't you think your father would be more disappointed in you if you let Dave get away with it? If you didn't keep him from doing this to you again” – Blaine paused, biting back a sudden rush of bile – “or to someone else?"

Kurt thought about it, gaze focused on Blaine's eyes while his head spun between yes and no.

"Look," Blaine said, kissing Kurt’s forehead. "I'll be right there with you. I promise."

Kurt nodded, returning Blaine's soft kiss but to his lips, really not eager to leave.

"Alright," Kurt said as Blaine backed away, smiling when Kurt attempted to deepen the kiss and prolong their stay. "Let's get this over with."

***

Kurt and Blaine got up, got dressed, and went downstairs for breakfast. Kurt barely ate a bite, his appetite so far gone that he couldn’t even get his body to swallow the delicious eggs and pancakes Blaine made. All through breakfast, and then on the drive to his house, Kurt tried to formulate a plan for how he was going to tell his father about Dave. He wanted to ease his dad into the details of the attack, not do or say anything that would put stress on his heart, but at this point, he wasn't even sure how he was going to get past hello, especially when he had been out all night, and couldn't even bring himself to call.

Too soon for Kurt, they pulled into the driveway. Blaine parked behind Kurt’s Eclipse and cut the engine. Kurt was half-tempted to ask Blaine to fire her back up and take him on a loop of Lima, to give him some more time to think. But Blaine could drive him around for hours, and Kurt wouldn’t be any more prepared to talk to his dad than he was. He just wanted this to be over.

"Wow," Kurt said with a small smile. “Deja vu, huh?"

"Yeah” - Blaine leaned over and kissed Kurt on the cheek – “except last time we were here, I couldn't call you my boyfriend."

"Well, you could have,” Kurt said. “I don't think I would have minded."

Kurt and Blaine stepped out of the car and walked to the front door. Blaine took Kurt's hands in his and squeezed them gently.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked.

Kurt nodded. "Yeah, I think I am."

Kurt pulled his key from his pocket and stuck it in the lock, but the door flew open, and there stood Burt, fuming in a way Kurt had never seen before.

"You two," Burt said, eyeing both boys, "get in here."

Kurt pulled Blaine behind him inside the house. Burt shut the door hard, and Kurt jumped. Blaine put a hand to the small of Kurt's back, rubbing soothing circles. Slamming doors didn’t bother Blaine much. That was par for the course in the Anderson house.

"Dad,” Kurt started, “I..."

"Where the hell have you been?" Burt cut him off, not giving Kurt a chance to finish.

Kurt took a deep breath, ready to plunge into the whole story. "I told you last night, I was going out with Blaine."

"I assumed you were with him, because you left last night to meet him. But your car was parked outside all night, you didn’t call me once, and here you come home at ten in the damn morning, dressed in his clothes. So now you're going to tell me what's going on."

"I'm trying to tell you, dad," Kurt said. He knew his dad would be upset, but he didn't understand how this could spiral so completely and utterly out of control. He had stalled for so long, not knowing what he would say. Now that he was here, he desperately wanted to tell his father everything, wanted to tell him how scared he felt, how he thought he was going to die and never see him again. But for as much as his father demanded an explanation, he didn't seem ready to listen.

Suddenly, Burt's eyes went wide and his mouth dropped as he finally looked past the clothes and took in his son's appearance.

"What the hell happened to you?" Burt roared, glaring at the marks on Kurt’s neck, the volume of his voice soaring till Kurt was certain the whole neighborhood had heard. Kurt felt cornered. He turned to look at Blaine, his eyes pleading for help, but Burt grabbed Kurt’s arm and yanked his son away.

"Did you do this to him?" Burt demanded, pushing Kurt aside and focusing on his boyfriend. Blaine took a step back, his hands raised.

"No, sir,” Blaine said, adamant of that fact. "I would never hurt Kurt."

"Dad, please." Kurt wrapped his hands around his father's arm, trying to make him listen. "Dad, let me explain."

Burt turned on Kurt, furious.

"Did you two…you and him…are you still..."

Burt didn't finish the question, but Kurt knew what his dad was asking. Blaine knew, too, and he knew the answer, but Kurt was mortified anyway. He pleaded with saucer-wide eyes for his father to stop, praying he would just drop it, that he would infer the answer from Kurt's look of shock.

But he didn't.

"Kurt,” Burt growled, “answer me. I'm asking you if..."

"Oh my God!" Kurt's neck tensed as he looked up at the ceiling, his eyes hot with tears, his whole body shaking from humiliation. "Yes, dad! I'm still a virgin!"

Kurt ran a hand through his hair, praying that any minute a huge hole would open up in the floor and suck him down into it. He chanced a look at Blaine, who looked aggravatingly sympathetic.

Pity. Jesus Christ! That’s the last thing Kurt wanted from Blaine.

"Kurt..." Blaine started.

"No." Burt pointed a finger at Blaine. "No, you don't talk to him. I think you should go."

"Dad!" Kurt screamed.

"No, Kurt." Burt turned to his son. "Look, I've ignored your behavior long enough because I knew you were miserable here, alright? But, you're out all night, you come home late, and I know you're with this guy…"

"Dad," Kurt warned, "don't," but Burt ignored his son.

"Look,” Burt said, addressing Blaine, “you seem like a good kid for the most part. But I think maybe you and my son are going a little too fast."

Blaine nodded. He wasn’t accepting Burt’s opinion as final, but he wasn’t going to disrespect him by talking back.

"I think I should go," Blaine said with a sad smile. "See you later, gorgeous."

The panic from Kurt’s nightmare that morning reared up. A feeling of separation, of being abandoned, and something inside of Kurt snapped.

"No!" Kurt screamed in a hoarse voice. "No!" He threw himself between his dad and Blaine, grabbing Blaine's hand to force him to stay. "I am sick and tired of you planning my life for me, dad! Everything...EVERYTHING was decided by you, without asking me! The move, the house, the shop, my school, you picked it all out! You decided! But I've had enough! Dad, I was attacked last night!"

Burt had opened his mouth to argue, but he stopped, his face immediately white.

"W-what?" Burt looked as lost as Blaine had hours before...as helpless as Blaine still felt.

"I...I was walking to the shop...to meet Blaine for our date,” Kurt stammered, “and someone attacked me."

"Kurt..." Burt said, not knowing what to say after that.

"And Blaine took care of me,” Kurt barreled on. “He wanted me to talk to you last night, or go to the police, or to the hospital. He was the one with all the responsible ideas, and me...I just wanted to sleep and forget anything ever happened."

Burt approached his son, reached out to take his hand, but Kurt pulled it away.

"I didn't call last night because I wasn't ready to talk to you. I wasn't ready for your disappointment, or your pity. I didn't know how to tell you that some big hulking maniac beat me up and kissed me!"

“Kurt,” Burt said, sounding slightly accusing, “you know you can tell me anything. You can always talk to me. How many times have I told you that?”

Kurt opened his mouth, but then clamped it shut, teeth digging in to his tongue. He had to stop himself before he said something he couldn't take back.

"No,” he said, throwing his hands in the air. “I can't…I can’t do this right now." He pulled Blaine, stunned into silence, toward the door.

"Kurt!" Burt trailed after them, watching as his son walked out of his house to the Mustang in the driveway and opened the passenger door. "Kurt, we need to talk about this!"

"No, dad!" Kurt gripped the car door for support. "I've been talking. You haven't been listening. And now I'm done!"

Kurt didn't look at his dad as he slid into the seat and buckled his safety belt. Blaine sat beside him, gripping the steering wheel, gazing over it at Burt's hurt and confused face.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Blaine asked, turning to face his boyfriend, but Kurt stared out the passenger window, looking pointedly at nothing.

"Can we please just go?"

“Sure,” Blaine said. “Where do you want to go?”

“Your place?” Kurt asked.

Blaine started the engine. “As you wish.” He pulled out of the driveway and drove Kurt away, rolling through the stop sign at the end of the street. Burt’s eyes followed Blaine’s car till it sped around the corner, then kept watching, waiting for someone to tell him how to handle the information his son just laid on him.

Hoping his son would eventually come back and give him the opportunity to try.

Kurt stayed at Blaine's house that night. Blaine held Kurt in his arms as they slept, and for once, the world kept quiet and gave them a bit of peace. Kurt felt guilty the next morning, knowing that his dad most likely had to fill in at the shop after Kurt left, and then again the next day, but still, Kurt decided to stay with Blaine, and treat himself to a little time off from his own exasperating existence.

Thank God for whoever invented four day weekends, Kurt thought.

He’d already spent most of the morning sitting in Blaine's lap, kissing every inch of Blaine's skin he could reach, and touching lightly with his fingertips over the areas he had yet to kiss. Blaine moaning in Kurt's ear was the most delicious sound. Kurt got drunk on it. Became addicted to it. He never wanted that sound to stop.

He intended on spending the afternoon here, the evening, and the next few days, making sure Blaine kept on making it.

“You know” - Blaine fought between kisses to get Kurt to talk to him about the fight he had with his dad – “I'm all for spending the rest of the weekend locked up in here, making out with you, if need be...”

"And need does," Kurt replied, threading his fingers into Blaine's hair. He grabbed a handful and tugged, making Blaine moan more.

"But, don't you think you should go home and talk to your dad?” Blaine murmured. “I mean, I know he went all aggster on us, but he was worried about you, Kurt.” Kurt kissed Blaine deeper, hoping to get him to drop the subject. He thought it worked, especially when he felt Blaine get immensely hard against his ass, felt Blaine’s grip on his back tighten, fingers curling, nails biting into his skin. But the second Kurt came up for air, Blaine started in again. “Oh God, Kurt…yes…mmm, darling…and then you dropped a pretty heavy bomb on him. I mean, I don’t blame you for how you told him, but he needed the opportunity to process it.”

“Blaine…” Kurt groaned, feeling his erection stutter to a halt.

“He’s your dad, Kurt,” Blaine continued, even as he started palming Kurt’s ass. “And I’ve seen you two together. He really loves you, and you love him. He’ll help you out. You gotta give him the chance.”

"Ugh!" Kurt exclaimed. He dropped his head, leaning against Blaine's forehead. "Total boner-kill, Blaine! Family angst is so not a turn-on."

“I’m sorry, darling,” Blaine chuckled into Kurt’s lengthy and exasperated sigh. “I just think…”

"I know,” Kurt interrupted, kissing Blaine's lips, “I know. You’re absolutely right. And I promise, I'll go home tomorrow. Just...let's not talk about my dad...please?" Kurt brushed his lips lightly against Blaine's, his tongue sweeping over the seam of Blaine's lips, dipping shallowly between, and there came that decadent, sinful noise again as Blaine moaned into Kurt's mouth.

“Alright,” Blaine agreed. “One day of hardcore making out and some serious heavy petting, and then we’ll face the music.”

“We?” Kurt said, wondering if Blaine had made a mistake, caught up in the moment and all their kissing.

“Of course,” Blaine said, kissing Kurt’s chest lightly over his racing heart. “As long as I’m around, you’ll never have to face the hard stuff alone.”

“Promise?”

Blaine smiled. “I promise.”

Kurt lowered his mouth to Blaine’s and kissed his lips tenderly, melting into his lap and that hard-on of his that seemed to have no intention of going away.

“Oh God, darling,” Blaine moaned, bucking up to meet him. “You definitely are going to kill me.”

Kurt was about to kiss Blaine again when the vibrating buzz of his cell phone demanded his attention.

"Hold that thought," Kurt said, putting a finger up to Blaine’s lips. He fished his phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen, hoping it would be someone he could blow off.

"It's Carole," Kurt said. Confused, he answered the phone. "Hello?"

Blaine watched Kurt's face as he listened.

"Kurt? Honey?” Blaine heard Carole say. “It's…it’s your dad.”

Blaine couldn't hear the whole conversation, but every so often Carole's sweet and melodic alto came through, and Blaine caught the gist.

"Ischemic arrhythmia...blacked out...caught it in time...fine now...bump on the head…overnight for observation..."

With every word Carole spoke, the smile faded from Kurt's face, and with it, the color.

"Yes…I…I understand…I'll be right there," Kurt said at last. “Thank you for calling.”

Kurt put down his phone, but he didn't move. He didn't have the will. This couldn’t be happening - not here, not again. Wasn’t that what moving to Ohio was all about? To live simpler, cut back on his father’s stress, and make sure that history didn’t repeat itself? Apparently, it didn’t work. Their problems were determined to follow them, wherever they went. But if Kurt stayed where he was, in the safe cocoon of Blaine's arms, maybe, just maybe, his world wouldn't fall apart for a third time.