When Blaine went home later that evening, he expected to come home to an empty house, since his parents were probably working.

How wrong he was.

“Squirt!”

Blaine was immediately scooped up into his energetic brother’s arms.

“Cooper?! What are you doing here?” Blaine asked shoving his brother good-naturedly.

“What? I can’t come visit purely in the interest of seeing my baby brother?”

Blaine eyed him skeptically.

“Alright fine, I’m going to a casting call nearby in a few days, but that’s not what’s important right now! What is important is spending time with my favorite brother,” Cooper said ruffling Blaine’s hair.

“Cooper, I’m your only brother,” Blaine replied while swatting his brother’s hand away.

“Details, details. Now come on, tell me all about your new school. I hear you have a love life now,” Cooper said with a suggestive wave of his eyebrows.

“Mom!” Blaine yelled into the house.

“Sorry, honey! I couldn’t resist!” she yelled back from somewhere in the house.

Blaine spent the rest of the day telling Cooper all about his new school and about Kurt.

“And he’s smart and funny and handsome and creative, oh man Cooper, you should see the designs he makes! He wants to go into fashion and he is so talented! He also sings like an angel and he has the most beautiful eyes and—“

“Okay, Blaine, I get it. He’s super gorgeous and talented, but is he taking care of you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know,” Cooper made an obscene gesture with his hand, “taking care of you?”

“Cooper!” Blaine practically shoved his brother off the couch as he tried not to blush so hard.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding! You know what I mean, is he good to you? Does he treat you right?”

Blaine looked at his brother confused, “Of course he does,”

“Hey, don’t look at me like it is such a ridiculous question. I’m just looking out for my baby bro.”

Blaine began thinking about all of the things that Kurt had done for him in the short time that they had known each other, and a warm feeling spread through his chest just thinking about him.

“Cooper, he is amazing. He has done so much for me. He listens to me, and I listen to him. We can talk to each other for hours on end, and never run out of things to talk about. We have so much in common, and we just get each other. I really care about him, and I know he cares about me too. He sticks up for me and defends me and-“

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. He sticks up for you? He defends you? Why does he have to do that in the first place?!”

Blaine didn’t want Cooper yelling to the whole house about the situation at school, “Cooper, calm down.”

“Like hell I will! Have you been getting at fights again?”

Blaine was quiet for a moment. “Well…”

“Blaine!”

Blaine quickly shushed him, “Hush! It wasn’t our fault okay? These guys cornered us after school, and they started a fight. It was nothing though, don’t worry about it. Kurt won and took care of it.”

Cooper snorted, “No offense dude, but the way you described him earlier, he didn’t seem like the type that would want to get into fist fights… or could win one.”

“Wellll… Kurt is kind of, sort of, in a… gang,” Blaine mumbled the last word, hoping Cooper wouldn’t catch it and move on. He had no such luck.

“A gang?! What the fuck, Blaine?!”

“Calm down! It’s not that kind of gang!”

“Oh? It’s not? Pray tell, oh dear brother of mine, what kind of gang it is then? The kind that only stabs people on Tuesdays and Thursdays? Or is it only weekends?”

“Okay, maybe ‘gang’ wasn’t the best word to use… Look, Kurt has had, to put it plainly, a pretty shitty past with the bullies at school. There is this group of people at school that act all badass and intimidating, and as long as he hangs out with them and acts like them, the bullies leave him alone.”

Cooper leaned back and rolled his eyes, “Wow, sounds like a real charmer,” he said without even trying to hide his sarcasm.

“Cooper, stop it. It’s just an image he has to keep up at school. When he’s not at school he’s incredibly nice and sweet and caring, and-“

“Sounds like to me that this guy’s got multiple personalities or something,”

Blaine let out a sigh of frustration. “It’s not that. He… I told you, he has had to deal with a lot in the past, and he found a way to get away from all of that torture, so he took that chance. Believe me, you probably would have done the same thing too if you had to go through what he did.”

“Geez, what happened that was so bad to turn him into a juvenile delinquent?”

“He’s not a—!” Blaine cut himself off from yelling, getting a hold of himself again. Sometimes his brother could be incredibly irritating, but that didn’t mean he needed to yell. He sighed, “It’s not my story to tell. Just trust me when I say, it was really bad.”

Cooper just nodded then, after seeing the look of resignation on his brother’s face.

“Look, Cooper. I don’t really care what you say, you are not going to change my opinion of him.”

“And what opinion is that?” Cooper sat back up and poked Blaine in the side.

Blaine smiled and squirmed a little bit at the contact, but then he simply shrugged his shoulders and said, “I love him.”

Cooper stared at him for a few moments, and when the silence was just about to turn awkward, and Blaine was about to start fidgeting, Cooper flung his arms around his brother and practically tackled him down onto the couch.

“Shit, Blainey! You’re in love! Fucking hell!” Cooper sat back up again with a wide grin and ruffled Blaine’s hair again. “My little bro is all grown up!” He said batting his eyelashes and wiping away a fake tear.

Blaine smiled and shook his head while mumbling something that sounded a lot like “asshole” under his breath.

They sat there for a few more moments before Cooper spoke again.

“So, you said the things that happened to him were pretty serious?”

Blaine nodded.

“Who has he told?”

Blaine though about it for a minute, “Well, I’m not sure, but…”

“Has he told any adults?” Cooper interrupted, getting right to the point.

“Probably not,”

“He should. Or you should,”

“No.” Blaine said firmly, “It’s not my story to tell, and he doesn’t like telling people about it. It brings up too many bad memories for him,”

“I understand that Blaine, but if this is still an ongoing thing, then someone else needs to know to help you guys out. What about his parents? Can’t he tell them?” Cooper asked, still prodding

“Parent,”

“What?”

“Kurt’s mom is… He just has his dad now.”

“Okay fine,” Cooper carried on, “Parent. Why can’t he tell him? Doesn’t he at least deserve to know? I’m sure he could help in some way?”

“Well, I guess… I guess I could suggest that to him…” Blaine was still hesitant to bring the subject up for any reason.

“I really think it would be in both of your best interests. For safety reasons,”

Blaine nodded in understanding while Cooper patted his shoulder in support.

“Especially since I’m not around to stick up for you myself,” Cooper said quickly regaining his obnoxious demeanor.

“Oh my god, Cooper, Shut up.” Blaine said shoving him again.

“Um, no. Also, I want to meet him.”

“What? Why?”

“I have to approve of him before I let my baby brother go gallivanting off into the world of sexual experiences with him,” Cooper said very nonchalantly.

“OH MY—Cooper shut up. Also, no.”

The refusal prompted Cooper into action, “What? Why not?”

“Because, you’ll scare him off with your inappropriate comments and nosiness.”

“Aww, come on. I’m not that bad. You love me regardless,”

Blaine eyed his brother warily, seriously considering whether he should have his head checked or not.

It was the Wednesday of that week when things started to fall apart.

Kurt was sitting under the bleachers behind the school with Quinn. 

“Puck told me about the fight,” she eventually bought up.

Kurt sighed, “Figured he would. What do you want to know?”

“What happened afterwards?”

Kurt hadn’t expected her to ask that right away. He had expected her to ask at some point, but he thought he would relay the details of the fight before that. He guessed Quinn wasn’t messing around today.

He hesitated a moment before answering, “We went back to my house, and we talked.”

“What did you tell him?”

“Everything.”

“…Everything?”

“Yup,” it came out as almost a groan.

“Including the little ‘L’ word?”

“Well okay, not that. But everything else,”

She nodded, “How did it go? How did he react?”

Kurt shook his head, “Quinn, he’s too good for me.”

“No he’s not.” Quinn had turned to face him as soon as he said that and promptly reached over to grip his shoulder, forcing him to look at her.

“Dammit, Kurt, you listen to me right now. Blaine is a good guy, I’ll give you that, but that does not mean that he is too good for you. I’ve seen the way you act around him. Kurt, nobody deserves to be happy more than you do. You’ve had your fair share of shit thrown at you and it’s about fucking time that you had something that actually makes you happy. And it’s certainly not one-sided. You make him just as happy too.  He’s definitely worse at hiding it than you are. You are the fucking sun and moon to him.  So don’t you dare tell me that you are not good enough or whatever, because you are. You two are good for each other, and you two deserve each other. Okay?” She let go of Kurt’s arm and plopped back onto the ground.

Kurt couldn’t stop staring at her. He had never seen her speak that way to him with such conviction and care in her voice. He realized in that moment how good of a friend she was to him, and he couldn’t help but lean over and envelop her in a huge hug.

“Ay!” she squeaked out.

“Thank you. For everything,” he whispered against her shoulder.

She seemed to relax and let out a sigh before she wrapped her arms around him in return.

When they pulled apart she replied sweetly with, “Don’t mention it,” and then she tacked onto the end menacingly, “ever.”

Kurt laughed for a few moments before saying, “it’s almost time for detention. Are you coming?”

“Nah, I think I might head out early. I’ve had enough of this place for the day.”

“Okay. Well, see you tomorrow,” he waved to her as he started walking back toward the school.

Kurt had just turned the corner to go back toward the building when he felt someone pull him back and slam him up against the wall.

“Ow! What the hell—?” Kurt caught his bearings and looked up to see Karofsky standing in front of him. He was far enough away from Quinn now that she probably couldn’t hear them, and she had most likely left already anyway. They were also too far away from the entrance of the school for anyone to hear them from there either.

“What the fuck, Karofsky? Stay the hell away from me, unless you want me to kick your ass again.” Kurt started shove him off and Karofsky just pushed him back against the wall harder.

“You might not want to leave yet, Hummel. I have a very interesting proposition for you,” he said crossing his arms and sporting a grin that was quite unsettling to Kurt.

Kurt eyed him warily, “What do you mean?”

“Oh, I think you know perfectly well what I mean, Kurt.” Karofsky started to pace back and forth in front of him slowly, continuing on as if it was the most casual conversation in the world. There was fake concern in his voice, playing up what he was saying.

“You see, you can’t protect him forever. You can’t constantly be at his side. And some time, when you’re not around to protect him, something bad is bound to happen.”

“You stay the fuck away from him.” Kurt’s fists were clenched at his side, and he was ready to pounce at any moment if he needed to.

“Oh, I will. But only if you take my proposition.” Karofsky stopped his pacing to face Kurt.

Kurt continued to look at him with caution and skepticism, “…what do you want?”

“It’s simple, all you have to do,” Karofsky said as he walked over to him and poked him in the chest, “is breakup with him.”

Kurt started to panic, “Why – why should I do that?” he couldn’t help but stammer.

“Face it, Hummel. He was doing fine until you dragged him into your crappy little world. And now, you are making him deal with all of your shit, and as soon as he realizes what he has got himself into, he will drop you anyway. You’re too fucked up for a little dork like him. You are just ruining someone else’s life besides your own,” Karofsky walked over to him and Kurt backed up until he felt his back hit the wall. Karofsky put his hands on either side of him on the wall and leaned in closer.

“And besides, if you don’t breakup with him, I’m sure there will be sometime during the day when you aren’t around. And when you’re not, I’ll find that little son of a bitch, and take him somewhere where no one will be able to hear him scream. And then I’ll take him for everything he is worth. I’m sure his tight little ass would feel so good.” Karofsky rolled his hips forward to emphasize his words. “I will take him, and there will be nothing. You. Can. Do. About it.” he punctuated each last word with a terrifying kiss to the side of Kurt’s neck.

“Or, you can dump the little fucker, and I’ll leave him alone. The choice is yours.”

Kurt let out a shaky breath, “Why do you keep doing this to me? Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

“Because,” Karofsky said simply, “a little fairy faggot like you doesn’t deserve to be happy. Also, we both know who you really belong with, and Anderson is just getting in the way of that. You have until Friday to do it.” Karofsky turned to leave, but before he walked too far, he turned back to Kurt.

“Oh, and by the way, if you tell anyone about this,”

“I know, Karofsky,” Kurt spat at him, “you’ve threatened my life enough over the past year, I think I get it by now.”

Karofsky let out a chuckle, “Oh no, Kurt. This time poor little Blaine will be the one to pay.”

And with that, Karofsky left.

Kurt stood there, numb for a few minutes before he slid down the wall and he curled in on himself. He was shaking and he couldn’t stop the tears that came to his eyes. He tried not to let Karofsky’s words affect him. He had just talked to Quinn and talked about how he did deserve to be happy. He tried to remember her words and let them fill his mind as opposed to Karofsky’s harsh words. But one thing stuck out in his mind out of everything.

Blaine.

Blaine did deserve to be happy, more than anyone. He was sweet and kind and the most compassionate person that Kurt had ever met. Blaine deserved to be happy.

“He was doing fine until you dragged him into your crappy little world. And now, you are making him deal with all of your shit.”

“You are just ruining someone else’s life besides your own.”

Blaine didn’t deserve any of that. He shouldn’t have to deal with Kurt’s problems. They were Kurt’s to deal with, and nobody else’s. But he had already selfishly dragged Blaine into all of it. And now Blaine was going to pay the price.

He had sworn that he would protect Blaine, and he was going to fail, unless he did what Karofsky demanded. Kurt thought about ignoring Karofsky’s threat and continuing to protect Blaine himself, but Karofsky was right. He couldn’t be with him constantly, and there was bound to be a time when he wasn’t around. And then terrible things would happen to Blaine. And they would be all Kurt’s fault. Blaine didn’t deserve any of that.

Kurt angrily slammed his fist against the wall out of frustration at the situation. He was going to find a way out of this… He just didn’t know how.

Thursday after school found Kurt and Blaine driving to Blaine’s house to study. Kurt had been thinking all the previous night and the whole day about a way to get out of Karofsky’s threats, but he couldn’t come up with anything. He was starting to get very nervous about the whole thing, and he was starting to feel on edge. He was careful not to throw too many snappy comments out around people, and he had to resist the urge more than once to wrap his arm around Blaine’s waist possessively when a group of jocks walked by.  He had to remember that Blaine couldn’t know about the threats, and if he started acting weird, then Blaine would definitely start to have questions. No, he would keep it together. For Blaine.

When Kurt walked into Blaine’s house he was met with a warm foyer and a grand staircase. The area was decorated tastefully, and Kurt had an appreciation for the décor placed around the room.

As they walked toward the stairs they heard someone call out from the kitchen, “Hey, honey!”

“Shit,” Blaine mumbled under his breath. 

“What?” Kurt questioned.

“Well, I was hoping to just go up to my room without her noticing. You probably don’t want to meet my mom, do you?”

Kurt shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t mind,”

“Really?” Blaine seemed surprised by Kurt’s answer.

“Sure, why not?”

A wide grin spread across Blaine’s face and he took Kurt’s hand and lead him toward the kitchen.

When they entered the kitchen Blaine’s mom asked, “How was your day honey?” without looking up from the crossword she was working on.

“It was fine,” Blaine glanced over at Kurt, “Umm, Mom? Kurt’s here.”

His mom looked up when he said that, and she grinned at the sight of the two of them. Kurt was hit with a sudden sense of déjà vu, now knowing where Blaine got his smile.

“It’s nice to meet you Kurt,” she said as she shook his hand. “I’ve heard lots about you,”

Blaine groaned, “Mom…”

“What? It’s the truth,” she winked at Kurt. Blaine groaned again and hid his face in Kurt’s shoulder out of embarrassment.

Kurt laughed, “Thank you, Mrs. Anderson. You have a lovely home, by the way.”

“Oh, why thank you, Kurt. I never got any help from this one in decorating it,” she motioned to Blaine.

“I figured I would just mess something up if I were to help. I figured I would leave it to the professional,”

Mrs. Anderson rolled her eyes, “Yeah yeah, whatever you say. So, are you boys hungry? I can fix you something, if you’d like,”

“No thanks, Mom. We are just going to go study in my room,” Blaine said tugging Kurt toward the exit of the kitchen.

“Alright alright, I’ll leave you alone. It was nice to meet you, Kurt,”

“It was nice to meet you too, Mrs. Anderson,” Kurt said before he was pulled out of the kitchen.

As they went up stairs Kurt said, “You’re mom seems nice,”

Blaine laughed, “Yeah, but as you saw, she likes to take any opportunity she can get to embarrass me.”

Kurt and Blaine were sitting together on Blaine’s bed studying when Blaine decided to bring up what he and Cooper had talked about.

“Hey, Kurt, can I ask you something?”

Kurt was a little cautious from the way Blaine sounded nervous, but he agreed anyway, “Yeah, sure.”

“Okay, umm,” Blaine was fidgeting with his pen he had been using. He didn’t know how Kurt would react to him bringing it all up again. “How many people have you told about what happened last year?”

Kurt did tense a little at the subject matter, but then he relaxed and focused to answer the question.

“You and Quinn are the only ones that know the whole story. Mercedes was at the party, but I was too shaken up to tell her what happened, and I didn’t really want to talk about it with her, so she knows that something bad happened at the party, but she doesn’t know specifically what it was. I’d imagine that Artie knows whatever Mercedes knows, she probably told him. Puck knows that Karofsky is bad news when it comes to me. Quinn told him at one point to help make sure that Karofsky stayed away from me, so that’s all he knows…”

Blaine nodded slowly after he had finished. “Okay, but… do any… adults know?”

Kurt shook his head in response.

“Well, don’t you think you need to tell someone about this?”

“What would the point be, Blaine?”

“What about your dad? Don’t you think he deserves to know?”

“No, I can’t tell him about this,” Kurt was staring at the bedspread and not making eye contact with Blaine anymore. “I told you about how he had some heart problems during my sophomore year. I don’t want to stress him out any more than he already is. I don’t think that his heart could take it. I don’t want to hurt him, and if he found out this happened, it would hurt him.”

It would hurt him if he found out you kept this from him. Blaine thought about saying, but he refrained. He didn’t want to upset Kurt more.

“Well, what about someone else? What about the teachers?” Blaine asked hesitantly instead.

“That wouldn’t help anything,” Kurt said still keeping his eyes away from Blaine.

Blaine was starting to get a little frustrated at this point at Kurt’s stubbornness. “Look, Kurt, if this is still an issue and he hasn’t stopped bothering you, someone needs to know so that they can help,”

“How is that going to help anything?!” Kurt was angry now too, almost shouting. “The teachers at that damn school won’t do anything to help! It’s his word against mine anyway, and whose side do you think they are going to be on? One of their star football players or the gay kid that can be found in detention? Nobody gives a shit about me at that school and they are not going to help anyway, so why should I bring attention to the one thing that I want to just ignore and forget ever happened!?”

Blaine was just as mad as Kurt now too, and he couldn’t help but yell back. “Well I do give a shit about you! And you think you can handle this on your own, but obviously you can’t if it is still going on! I don’t want to have to see that asshole threatening you in the hallways anymore when you deserve better than that!”

By the time they had both finished yelling they were breathing deeply, trying to calm down. They were both looking at the bedspread, avoiding eye contact with the other.

As he started to calm down, Blaine started to think about the things that they both had said. Kurt was right, he obviously knew the school better than Blaine did, and the teachers wouldn’t help. It wasn’t like Kurt hadn’t tried to fix things, but he had to find his own way to do it. Joining the Skanks was his way of fixing things.

Blaine sighed when he realized had been insensitive when he had accused Kurt of not taking care of things. He shouldn’t have even brought this up in the first place, at least not in the way he did. The last thing he wanted to do was fight with Kurt.

He gingerly reached over and took Kurt’s hand in his. When Kurt didn’t pull away, but still wouldn’t look at him, he started to rub his thumb along Kurt’s knuckles soothingly.

After he felt Kurt relax somewhat he broke the silence, “I’m sorry.”

Kurt did look back over at him then.

“I’m sorry I even brought this up in the first place. It’s not my place to tell you what to do, and I’m sure you know what you are doing in how you handle all of this. I just worry and I… I’m sorry,”

Kurt sighed as the last of his anger left him, and he moved across the space between them and cuddled against Blaine’s side. Blaine shifted to where he was leaning against the headboard and Kurt’s head was pillowed on his chest. He slowly stroked his fingers through Kurt’s hair while his other hand was still clasped Kurt’s hand.

Kurt didn’t really know what he was doing. He tried to pretend like he did, but he didn’t. That was evident by the fact that he couldn’t find a way to get out of losing the most precious thing to him.

When Kurt arrived at school on Friday he was a huge bundle of nerves, and he felt like he was going to be sick. He was still trying to come up with a way to get out of what he had to do, but he still could not think of anything.

When he opened his locker that morning, he found a note with sloppy handwriting had been shoved inside.

“Don’t forget what has to happen today.”

 Kurt crumpled up the note in anger and slammed his locker shut before storming off to his first class.

The day seemed to pass in a daze, his thoughts preoccupied throughout the day. He skipped the classes he shared with Blaine, and he avoided the lunch room, hoping to steer clear of him for as long as possible.

Later that afternoon, he was walking to the detention room when a jock walked past him and hit his shoulder, causing him to stumble.

He snapped.

He turned around and grabbed the jock by the back of his jacket before spinning him around and slamming him up against the lockers.

“Don’t you dare touch me!” He screamed in the jocks face. “You stay the hell away from me or I will fuck you up!”

He vaguely remembered hearing someone down the hall yell “Fuck him up!” before Blaine was pushing between him and the jock, pushing him away from the lockers.

“Kurt, stop, what are you doing? You’re better than this,” he was saying.

Kurt was still seething. He brushed Blaine off of him, saying, “How would you know?” before he stormed off toward the detention room.

If he had looked back he would have seen the hurt expression on Blaine’s face, but he didn’t want to witness the damage he had done.

Kurt and Blaine were the last two to leave when detention was over. They were walking down the hallway together toward the exit of the school and Kurt was doing his best to keep himself together long enough to do what he had to do.

He finally stopped walking, and Blaine stopped as well when he noticed Kurt wasn't walking next to him anymore.

"Kurt?"

Kurt was staring at the floor trying to gather his wits. He looked up at Blaine then, and Blaine was thrown for a loop when he noticed that Kurt's defensive walls were up, and he was trying to act overconfident and aloof like he usually did when there were other people from school around. However, they were alone now, so Blaine was confused as to why Kurt was acting that way.

"Blaine, we need to talk." Kurt figured that the best way to go about it was to just get it over with.

Blaine was still confused as to why Kurt was acting so weird. "Umm, okay? Is everything okay?"
Kurt shook his head, "No… Blaine, I want to breakup."

There. It was out.

Blaine was shocked into silence for a few moments, trying to figure out what was going on. He was trying to put the pieces together as to why this was happening. He thought Kurt cared about him, and now he was just leaving him? He didn't get it.

"What? I... I don't understand,"

"There's nothing to understand, Blaine. I think we should break up. That's all there is to it." Blaine was once again shocked by the coldness that Kurt was showing toward him.

"Bu--but that can't just be it. If this is about what I brought up yesterday, I'm sorry, I overstepped and I shouldn't have--"

"It's not that," Kurt cut him off. He didn't want Blaine blaming himself for something he didn't do. 

"Then what is it?!"  The whole situation was fishy, with Kurt's affronted attitude and his sudden desire to end what they had between them. It was ridiculous, and Blaine wanted answers.

"We are too different, Blaine. I saw your house and your family and your life yesterday. Your life is too perfect for me to fit into it. We just don't belong together, we don't fit."

"Bullshit."

Kurt was, for the first time, surprised out of his front, not expecting Blaine to call him on anything.

"I'm not gonna let you just dismiss what there is between us, Kurt. I know you can feel it too. We do fit together. There is this connection between us, and I felt it the moment I met you." Blaine had begun to move forward toward Kurt, and just as he reached his hand out to try and take Kurt's, Kurt stepped back to avoid his touch. Kurt knew it would break him.

"Blaine, my life is shit, and it is going to be too much for you. It is mine alone to deal with, and you don't need to be around to get caught up in it all."

Blaine laughed humorlessly, "I think it's a bit too late for that, Kurt. You may not have meant to, but I am already caught up in your life. I care too much about you to not care about what you have to deal with. And it doesn’t matter to me! I want to be there to help you! I remember you told me at one point that you were going to help me survive this hell hole. You were going to protect me. Well that is a two way street. Who is going to protect you when you are busy looking out for someone else? I want to be there for you, I want to help protect you too. "

Blaine's words were starting to affect Kurt in a way he didn't think they would. He was running out of excuses to throw at Blaine.

"Well, Blaine, you don't--"

"Dammit, Kurt, don't shut me out!"

"God, why are you fighting against this so much?!"

"Because I love you!"

The silence reigned between them. The whole time the thoughts running through Kurt's head were a mixture of,

"No, no, no, no, don't do this,"
"I don't want to do this to you"
"I don't want to lose you"
"I can't do this"
"I love you, too"

Kurt didn't realize he was shaking until Blaine was standing in front of him and grasping his trembling hand and holding it against his chest.

"I do, Kurt. I love you, and I’m going to fight for you. All I want is to be with you. You are the most incredible person I have ever met, and I can't give up on you... On us.  Please, don't do this. Tell me how you really feel about what is between us.

"I love you. I love you so much. I don't want to do this. But I have to. I have to protect you."

Kurt let out a small sob as he laid his palm flat against Blaine's chest, over his heart. He still had to get Blaine away from him, or he would get hurt.

"I'm not going anywhere until you order me away" Kurt remembered Blaine's words from a few days ago. While they seemed like a comfort to him at the time, they now seemed like the final nail in the coffin.

He slowly pushed against Blaine's chest until his back hit the nearby lockers with a small thump.

"Blaine, I..."  Kurt looked into his eyes one last time before he averted them to stare off to the side.

"I want you to stay away from me. Don't come near me again. Leave me alone."

And with that, he walked away from Blaine, exiting the school.

Just as he was about to leave, he noticed Karofsky leaning against the wall of one of the adjoining hallways. Karofsky gave him a small nod before he turned and walked the opposite way down the hall.

Kurt ran from the school then, not able to keep himself together anymore.
He exited the building and ran to the other side of the school to the now empty bleachers. He collapsed against one of the pillars, sobbing into his arms. He felt like a hole had been ripped through his chest, although he knew he had caused it himself.

He caught sight of the small bracelet around his wrist then. He hadn't taken it off since Blaine had given it to him on their date. Kurt began tearing at it, trying to get it off. He didn't feel like he deserved anything that had to do with Blaine anymore. He stopped trying to tear it off as the fight drained out of him, and instead he cradled his wrist to his chest, thinking that the bracelet would be the only thing he would have left of him.

He slumped to the ground as he continued to cry.

"I'm so sorry, Blaine."
"I love you."
"I'm sorry. I love you."
 

Blaine was still standing against the lockers, frozen in shock. He couldn't believe that it was over. He was just... gone.

He didn't really remember leaving the school, but before he knew it, he was dazedly walking into his house and toward his room.

"Hey, Squirt!" Cooper called out from the living room. "Listen, I picked up some new dance moves today at the audition, and since, you know, your dancing levees something to be desired, I figured we could go over some of these new techniques and see if we can't improve your--"

Blaine didn't hear the rest of what Cooper was saying as he slammed his door shut. He fell onto his bed, staring at nothing, just going over everything in his head. He was trying to figure out just what he had done wrong. What had he done to screw up the best thing that ever happened to him?

He thought through everything he could, trying to figure it out. The next time he looked up, it was 1am and he hadn't moved an inch from his position on the bed. He glanced around, noticing that it had gotten dark, when he caught sight of the bear Kurt had given him sitting on his bed. He gingerly reached over and picked it up. He realized that it was the last thing he had of the boy he loved, and he wasn't sure if that was all he was ever going to have of him or not.

Blaine found himself curling around the small bear, trying to get as close to it as possible, as the tears finally started to fall.