Kurt drove his dad's tow truck to Dalton Academy. It was a near straight shot down Route 31, and, at that hour of the insane early morning, with absolutely no traffic. His mind and his conscience clear, he stared out the window and down the highway, occasionally reflecting on the few steps of his plan – get Blaine’s Mustang, go home, don’t get the shit beat out of them in the process. Finn didn't talk much. He tried making nervous chitchat in the beginning, but that petered off, and they drove the rest of the way in complete silence.

They turned in to the Dalton campus just shy of two in the morning. The lights in the dorms were on, and they could hear dance music bumping from speakers set up near the windows. Whoever was having this party was definitely thumbing their nose at the rules and letting everyone know it. Kurt parked right out front, hoping the sight of a large tow truck pulling up would attract someone’s attention and announce their presence for them. He killed the engine, listening to the spin of the motor slow as it geared down, and sighed into the darkness.

"You ready for this, dude?" Finn asked, looking behind him toward the brown stone building. The truck had done its job. Several boys had already peered out the window at them, and Kurt saw more gathering.

"Yeah," Kurt said, looking at Finn's face, trying to garner a little extra strength from this kind, caring boy who might someday become his stepbrother. "Let's get this over with."

Kurt climbed out of the truck, and walked up the steps, watching as the door opened in anticipation of him. Finn walked up with him, staying close behind. Kurt was met by a group of boys he didn't recognize. Maybe he had seen them at the races. He didn’t know. But they definitely seemed to recognize him. He could hear whispers travel around the group, becoming more excited as they approached, but among the muffled words he made out names mostly - Dave, Blaine, Wes, Sebastian.

"Out of my way!" he heard the latter command as he pushed boys out of his path to get to the door. Kurt didn't expect the look he saw on Sebastian's face, as if he were running to meet someone important to him after too many months apart. When his green eyes settled on Kurt's face, he stammered. "K-kurt?"

Sebastian looked Kurt over from head to toe. His arms hung at his sides, hands flexing as if itching to grab Kurt and hold him. Realizing that someone else was standing behind Kurt, Sebastian looked over Kurt's shoulder and locked eyes with Finn, posing a silent challenge. At the look of confusion on Finn's face, Sebastian's lips curled into a slow-burning smile. All at once, his cocky façade returned.

"So, Kurt,” Sebastian said, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the door jamb, “are you ready to dump the losers and hang with the real men?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. So many snide and cutting remarks raced through his brain. He was angry. No, he was livid. Kurt wanted to unleash on this boy, but he fought to stay calm as he looked at Sebastian, refusing to back down.

"I need to speak to Wes," Kurt said evenly. "I've come for Blaine's car."

Wes and the rest of the crew had migrated from the hall to the front door when Sebastian didn't return. Wes eyed Kurt and Finn, and smirked, tossing out a wickedly amused bark of laughter.

"Porcelain?" Wes said. "I never thought I’d see you here again."

Kurt looked past Sebastian's convoluted expression to meet Wes's eyes.

"I want Blaine's Mustang," Kurt said.

Wes chuckled, which became a current that started a tremor of laughter through the rest of the group.

"Why would you want that piece of junk?" Wes asked, motioning with his chin to a point out front. Kurt turned to look, and his heart stopped, sinking straight to his stomach like a lead block. How did he miss it? Blaine’s beautiful black car - shattered, broken, torn to shreds, much like its owner. Kurt swallowed back tears, swallowed back anger, swallowed back the black hole of hate that threatened to consume him entirely. He turned to face the matching smug grins of Wes and his mob.

"I don't care," Kurt said. "I want it."

"Well, I don't give things away for free,” Wes said, “and I happen to be fond of that heap of crap. It's going to be the guest of honor at our bonfire tomorrow night." The crowd of boys laughed again. Kurt swept his eyes over them, each one a follower, a lackey, without an original thought in his head, making fun of his Blaine.

Kurt was getting tired of this mocking at Blaine's expense.

"I'll trade you for it." Kurt looked at Sebastian this time, and Sebastian raised an eyebrow.

"And what do you have that we might want?" Sebastian asked, his expression hopeful as his eyes traveled down Kurt’s body.

"My Eclipse." Kurt pointed to the tow truck out front. "I'll trade you my Mitsubishi for Blaine's Mustang. And then, you leave him alone."

Wes's lips twisted into a calculating grin, imagining Blaine’s reaction when he discovered not only what the Dalton Crew had done to his precious fucking Mustang, but that they had wrecked his boyfriend’s car, too. Wes nodded, satisfied that he was getting one hell of a deal.

"I guess that's a fair trade," Wes agreed. "Your Mitsubishi will burn just as well as Blaine's little pony car. Right, Bas?" Wes clamped a hand down on Sebastian's shoulder, but Sebastian had stopped listening. He stared with a wistful look at the tow truck in the distance.

"Yeah," Sebastian said, voice tight and flat. "Yeah, it will."

Kurt's heart should have broken into a thousand pieces, but amazingly, the thought of these bastards burning his car didn't seem to bother him the way he thought it would. Kurt realized before he came here that the car he had worked so hard on wasn't really that important. It was just a car. It didn't define him. Neither did living in Ohio, nor going to NYADA for that matter. What defined him most were the decisions he made. His car wasn't the only thing he would finish, because he was determined to finish this, this stupid feud, right here and now.

"Go on," Wes said with a perplexed look at his second-in-command. "Go get the car."

Kurt and Finn had jogged down the steps, preparing to unload the car. Finn climbed into the cab of the tow truck and lowered the back, while Kurt started unhooking his Eclipse. Sebastian joined them, watching quietly.

"You know" - Sebastian spoke so only Kurt could hear him - "you don't have to do this."

"Yes," Kurt said, not looking at Sebastian as he worked, "I do. I've spent too much time caring about the wrong things."

Sebastian scowled.

"And Blaine's piece of shit Mustang is the right thing?" Sebastian asked defiantly.

"No." Kurt finally looked into Sebastian's face. "Blaine is. And I love him. I need to start making things right." Kurt patted his car fondly and smiled. "This is the first step."

Kurt opened the driver side door and put the car into neutral. Sebastian jumped up on the ramp and helped Kurt push the car carefully off the tow truck. They pushed it to the curb beside Blaine's broken car. Then, Kurt handed the keys to Sebastian. Sebastian looked at the keys in his hand like he had just been handed the secret to unlocking his greatest wish. Finn rounded to the back of the tow truck. He nodded at Sebastian, who stared numbly at the keys in his hand.

Kurt appraised the Mustang. Finn came up beside him.

"What do you think?" Finn asked, watching Kurt's eyes as they shifted over the car. Kurt tried his best to sound detached and clinical, but it took most of the energy he had left.

"It looks like mostly body damage," Kurt assessed. "Tires popped, windshield busted, side view mirrors knocked loose…just a bunch of fucking assholes with crowbars." Kurt opened the driver's door, reaching inside the car for the lever that popped the hood, and noticed that Blaine's sinful leather seats were untouched. He sighed with relief.

Kurt lifted the hood and looked at the engine. The immaculate V8 all but winked back at him.

"Thank God,” he whispered, grateful for their incredible luck. “Come on, Finn," Kurt called over his shoulder as he shut the hood. "Let's winch her up and get her home."

Finn smiled, hopping back into the truck, encouraged by the renewed sound of confidence in Kurt’s voice. Kurt connected the car to the winch and helped maneuver it on to the ramp. When they had it loaded, Kurt secured the car, making sure to cover it for the ride. The thought of people seeing Blaine's Mustang in this condition killed him.

"That's it, Porcelain," Wes jeered, watching with his crew while the two boys worked. "Take that broken piece of shit home to its piece of shit owner. Now they make a matching pair."

The crowd of boys roared with laughter, shouting taunts of their own, but Kurt refused to hear them. He focused on thoughts of Blaine – the look on Blaine's face after they fixed his car, sitting in the passenger seat while Blaine drove him back to their ledge in his Mustang...the Mustang Kurt would do everything in his power to restore for him.

Kurt leapt down from the ramp when he had finished, nearly bumping into Sebastian, who still hadn't moved.

"I heard your dad had Dave arrested," Kurt said, looking into Sebastian's clouded eyes. They were hidden by the shadows of his face, but Kurt knew they weren't aimed at him.

"Yeah" - Sebastian nodded - “I called in a favor, and he took care of it.”

"Wow” - Kurt laughed bitterly – “Called in a favor?” He shook his head and looked down at his boots, kicking at the dirt. “What did Monster do to you?"

Sebastian closed his hand around the keys.

"He hurt someone,” he said. “Someone that I thought I could care about. Someone that…that I wanted to love."

Kurt's head snapped up, his jaw dropped as he watched Sebastian turn, with keys in hand, and walk back to the dorm.

***

It was well past sun up when Kurt and Finn returned to Kurt’s house with the busted Mustang. Burt and Carole were already standing outside on the street, waiting impatiently for their sons. Blaine, who had woken up hours earlier, and had been the one to notice that Kurt was missing, paced with a limp and a pained look on his swollen face. The rest of the McKinley Crew were gone, driving around Lima in an attempt to locate Kurt and Finn.

Carole rushed the tow truck when she saw it pull up.

"What in the hell is wrong with you boys?" she yelled as they climbed out of the cab. "Both of you gone in the middle of the night? No call? No note? You didn't tell anyone where you were going?"

“Mom,” Finn said as both boys approached, “I’m so sorry, but, you see, Kurt…”

Carole didn’t let Finn finish, scooping them both into her embrace, crashing them awkwardly together.

"After what those hoodlums did to Blaine,” she continued, “who knows what could have happened to you. And Kurt, your father..."

"Is pissed," Burt cut in as he came up behind them, eyes flicking between Kurt and the tow truck, "but, I trust my son. And, I think I understand."

Kurt broke free from Carole's grip and hugged his father.

“Thank you,” he uttered, and his father squeezed him tight, patting him on the back in that way that told Kurt everything would be okay, reminded him that they had each other, and they would get through the hard times together, no matter what life threw their way.

From the corner of his eye, Kurt saw Blaine limp over to the truck, leaning over oddly to peek under the cover at the twisted lump of metal beneath. Blaine's eyes went wide.

Kurt came up behind his boyfriend and wrapped his arms gingerly around his torso.

"I am so so so angry with you," Blaine muttered, not turning to look at Kurt.

"Hmm," Kurt sighed, kissing Blaine on the cheek, "that sounds awfully familiar. How does it feel, Anderson?"

Blaine dropped his head.

"You got it back," Blaine said in awe. Kurt nodded against Blaine's neck. Finn climbed up onto the back of the truck and pulled off the cover on Blaine’s car. Kurt held Blaine's arm as he limped slowly around his Mustang, examining the damage. "But, how?"

"You don't have to worry about how." Kurt said. "Just focus on getting better so we can fix your car."

Blaine turned to look at him, mouth agape. He peered deep into Kurt's eyes, as if the answer might be hidden there. Then, as if hitting onto some obvious revelation, Blaine looked around, then at Kurt, squinting as he studied Kurt's expression.

"No," Blaine said. "No, Kurt. Not your car."

Kurt didn’t say a word. It hadn’t quite sunk in for him yet. He only shrugged.

"Oh, Kurt," Blaine exhaled, taking Kurt in his arms, "you shouldn't have given up your car."

"It's just a car," Kurt said.

"But...but you love that car," Blaine argued. "That car's your freedom. That car could have helped pay for school. It wasn't worth it."

"You're worth it, Blaine." Kurt held his boyfriend, rubbing gentle circles over his sore back. "You begged me to get your car back. I know it means so much to you - so much more than my car means to me. Please believe me when I tell you, I have no regrets."

Blaine kissed Kurt lightly on the cheek.

"No regrets?" Blaine whispered, and Kurt knew Blaine was talking about more than the car.

"None." Kurt nuzzled his nose into the crook of Blaine's neck. "Never."

The McKinley Crew trickled back after Finn sent out a mass text telling them that he and Kurt had returned home, in one piece, having retrieved their leader’s car.

All except Brittany, who sent a text back.

(8:00 A.M.)

From: BrittBritt

You guys need to come to Kurt’s dad’s shop quick. Something bad has happened.

Along with the message, she sent a picture of the front door to Hummel Tires & Lube, the glass completely shattered.