That was how they saw him. Breakable. Everyone; Finn, Puck, Mercedes, Blaine. Everyone expected him to be skittish and afraid, and maybe he was wrong not to be, but he couldn't help but feel that he wasn't meant to live like that. He wanted to remain positive, even if it was difficult at times.

Karofsky had targeted him. Kurt didn't believe it was on purpose, because can a person really chose whom to love? No one would blame him for hating Karofsky, for pulling away from people, for being afraid. Kurt didn't want that; he didn't hate Karofsky, he didn't pull away from people, he wasn't afraid. He pitied David Karofsky, and perhaps that was worse. Maybe Kurt was a fool for hoping that one day Karofsky would find the self-acceptance he had been lucky enough to come by at such a young age. He had been blessed with a loving family and taught strength and resilience. Kurt knew that some people would never find that within themselves, though he had hope.

What Kurt did hate was the way his friends and family treated him after they found out the entire story of what happened between him and Karofsky. They were constantly watching him, and reassuring him that they had his back. Then they would proceed to prove that they had his back by escorting him everywhere, though Kurt maintained it was stalking, and by making (dramatic) gestures, such as serenading him with upbeat songs about getting through things together (where on earth did they all come from? Some of them had to be made up).

Out of everyone in his life, from Puck's threatening glares at anyone who dared to even look at Kurt sideways to Carol's insistent baking meant to cheer him up, Kurt hated the way Blaine treated him the most. Blaine was always hesitant with him, carefully taking his hand and never making a bold move (aside from a few embarrassing attempts at romance that the Warblers would help him with. Seriously, did no one realize that perhaps Blaine's deficiency at romantic gestures could be stopped if he simply didn't have help to execute his hare-brained schemes?) and it was starting to drive Kurt up the wall.

Kurt didn't mind making the first move, but he was starting to feel undesirable. Blaine never kissed him without his permission, even though Kurt hinted that a surprise kiss wouldn't be a bad thing, not from Blaine, not ever, and he always stopped things before they got too heated; perhaps it was the gentleman in him, but Kurt had had enough.

"Wait, wait," Blaine pulled away from Kurt's heated kisses, a difficult feat considering the fact that Kurt had him pinned down on his bed and he really really didn't want to stop, "We should slow down, take a break."

"Why?" Kurt whispered breathily into his ear, lightly grazing his lips over Blaine's earlobe. He shuddered and forced himself to push Kurt away; Kurt narrowed his eyes and moved to sit cross legged at the other end of the bed, as far away from Blaine as possible.

"I just... Want to be sure you're okay," Blaine anxiously chewed his lip, looking for any signs that Kurt wasn't okay. He merely seemed turned on and pissed off.

"Okay?" Kurt hissed, he gestured to his straining erection, "This is more than okay, but only if you don't stop pushing me away. Honestly Blaine you're driving me nuts!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"You know what? Never mind," Kurt stood up and turned towards the door, "I'll just let myself out."

"No, don't go!" Blaine jumped off his bed and grabbed Kurt's hand, "I'm sorry, just tell me what I did wrong."

"It's what you didn't do," Kurt muttered, and he turned back when Blaine tightened the grip on his hand, "Do you even want me?"

Blaine stared at him. For an uncomfortably long time. Kurt began to shift uneasily. He attempted to loosen Blaine's grip on his hand, which seemed to snap the other boy out of his reverie. He yanked on the hand that he still held and pulled Kurt into a tight grip against his chest. Blaine grabbed Kurt's other hand, the one that wasn't trapped between their bodies, and pressed it to his own erection.

"Does this answer your question?" Blaine moaned into his boyfriend's ear, pressing his lips to the other boy's neck and teasing him.

"Seriously Blaine," Kurt managed to gasp out, "You're acting like I'm fragile or undesirable or something. I'm not going to break if we start taking things a little further."

Blaine pulled away from Kurt's neck to protest, but the fair-skinned boy pressed a finger to his lips, "No, let me finish. I know that everyone thinks that Karofsky has given me PTSD and that maybe one wrong move will send me into a tailspin of screaming and crying, but I promise you that I'm fine. Of all the people I love, don't you think I would be honest with you? I want you to be able to kiss me whenever you want, and I want you to know that I'm not afraid of you."

Kurt freed both of his hands and gently pressed them to either side of Blaine's face. His eyes carefully studied Blaine's features, the planes and angles of his face, before he sighed and pressed a sweet, chaste kiss to his boyfriend's lips. He moved away again with the full intention of leaving, but Blaine's hand snapped out and yanked on his arm again. Kurt jumped onto the bed, his boyfriend's form quickly falling to cover him.

Blaine set about discovering that Kurt was definitely not fragile. With his last coherent thought, Kurt decided that surprise kisses were his favourite thing in the world.