"Wha-what?" Kurt sputtered, hardly able to believe what he was hearing.

"He made me swear that if I ever met you, I wouldn't tell you his name, basically anything he would want to tell you himself. Your initials are KH, I presume?" She asked kindly. Kurt nodded. Normally, Mrs. Devon would just give Kurt dirty looks, the stereotypical type of librarian. Now her eyes were kind, and she placed a gentle hand on Kurt's arm. He winced.

"Can you tell me what happened?" She asked. Kurt shook his head.

"I can't," he said quietly, still shocked at it all. He couldn't bring himself to say the actions done unto him aloud.

"That's okay, dear. Here, let me take your coat, it's filthy," she said, gesturing for him to take it off. Kurt was glad to do so, since it was becoming very uncomfortable. The right sleeve was torn, the ends frayed and dirty. There were stains all over the material, and Kurt realized how much it reeked.

"I'm sorry, I must smell really bad," he blurted out awkwardly as she took the coat.

"I'm not going to lie, you do," she laughed a little. Mrs. Devon held the coat from the inside, since that was the cleanest part. "I don't think that you'll want this anymore?"

"No. There will be bad memories associated with it, I guess. I don't know if I could wash and sew it and bring it to Goodwill-"

"Don't worry about it, sweetheart. I'll do it. Speaking of sewing, let's take a look at your arm! I'm no nurse, but that looks pretty serious," she left the coat on a nearby chair, walking up to Kurt and carefully rolling up the bloodied sleeve of his shirt.

Kurt's jaw dropped as he stared at the long cut that ran through his forearm, hot dog style; it had to be about four inches long. It wasn't too deep, and wasn't bleeding anymore...not too much, at least. Regardless, the sight of it still made him feel faint.

"Oh dear, I think you'll want to get that checked out. It doesn't look too bad, though."

"Oh no, my dad isn't going to be home for a while and I can't really walk home...it's okay, it doesn't hurt anymore." That was partially a lie. His arm was stinging.

"I'll drive you to the hospital. I really think you should call him, though, I think his son is more important than his job," she smiled sadly. "I don't think I can say the same about my grandson," she added under her breath.

Kurt, while wondering what she meant about BDA, could not believe how nice she was. "Thank you so much, Mrs. Devon. Do you think I can bring the Book with me? I didn't get the chance to write anything. Also, can I take outThe Magician's Nephew? I think we should move onto Narnia next. I might as well do all of that, since I've heard that visits to the ER are long." Kurt had only been to the hospital twice, to visit his mom, and his dad after his heart attack.

"Good choice," she said. Kurt got up, grabbing his bag and the Book. He waited for Mrs. Devon by the door as she found the book he requested and checked it out, taking out his phone and dialing his dad's phone number.

"Hello?"

Kurt took in a deep breath. Just hearing Burt's voice made a bunch of emotions rush through his body.

"Dad," he choked out.

"What's wrong, Kurt, what happened?" asked Burt, worry resonating through the speaker.

"I can't explain it all here. I'm at the library; I cut my arm pretty badly. Well, not here at the library, and I didn't really do it-I'm sorry, I'm such a mess. It's been a long day. Mrs. Devon, the librarian, is taking me to the hospital, if that's okay with you,"

"What?! Oh, Kurt, oh my God...okay, okay...you go ahead, I'll get there as soon as I can, okay?"

"Yeah. Bye Dad."

"Bye Kurt. Love you,"

"I love you too."

The line went dead, and with perfect timing. Mrs. Devon walked up to Kurt, ushering him out of the library. There were only two cars in the parking lot; Mrs. Devon wordlessly led him to the small Corolla. They got in, and Mrs. Devon began driving away. Kurt hoped that she wasn't an "old lady" driver-and she turned out to be far from it. She turned slightly to Kurt as she sped through a yellow light.

"You know, he talks about you a lot," she said against the smooth, calming jazz playing in the background. Kurt pulled himself out of the music he'd been immersed in and turned to her, completely surprised by her statement.

"Really?" She nodded, a big smile on her face. Kurt didn't know what else to say. He knew that BDA had to be fond of him, because why would he continue writing to him if he didn't like his correspondent, and he must have mentioned the Book Project multiple times for Mrs. Devon to know, but he had no idea that BDA would think or talk about him that often. It couldn't possibly amount to how much Kurt thought about him, though.

The car was quiet for a few minutes while Kurt looked out of the window, drowned in his thoughts. The sky outside was darkening earlier than usual; a sign that winter was soon arriving. A few rays of scarlet stretched out from the horizon, turning to deep red to violet to indigo over the expanse of large canvas. Kurt could see the North Star overhead against the night sky, the other stars around it dim in comparison.

"Can you tell me how he came out? He didn't want to tell me, but that-that would really help right now," he exhaled, not even realizing that he was holding his breath.

Mrs. Devon sighed. "I guess I should. He was too young, his peers didn't understand. His parents...they still don't seem to grasp it. It even took me awhile to adjust. The kids at his public school, however, were cruel to him. He began to suffer academically, so we put him into a private school. He's much happier there; there are actually quite a few homosexuals at the school. It's really a great environment. The only thing I've noticed is, he doesn't really have a best friend there. That's where you come in," Kurt saw her smile, crow's feet forming by the outer corners of her eyes. "I've never seen Bl- I mean, him, "she recovered quickly, "this happy for a long time. So I wanted to thank you so, so much for that.

"Anyway, my grandson now means the world to me. I let him into the library after we close, and he just reads and writes with this goofy smile on his face and this twinkle in his eyes," she laughed, turning onto the block before the hospital.

Kurt laughed with her, still feeling a bit light-headed from nearly finding BDA's name out. Or was it from the blood loss? Still, he felt a sense of security from BDA's sad story, knowing that he was not alone in suffering, however he felt even worse for his friend because even his parents didn't really accept him. Burt accepted his son's proclamation with no big production, even claiming that he already knew Kurt was gay. Kurt couldn't help but feel jealous of BDA for going to such an accepting school, but the feeling was washed away with compassion and complete appreciation for BDA in considering Kurt his best friend. A small voice nagged him in the back of his mind, there's got to be more to this, but Kurt ignored it.

That's why I've never seen him, Kurt thought as Mrs. Devon pulled into the emergency room parking lot, snagging a spot pretty close to the front. She parked the car and checked her large canvas bag, making sure that she had everything with her.

"Why don't you put the Book in my bag?" She asked Kurt, who was still holding onto it and turning the pages absentmindedly, waiting for her to finish checking. He handed it to her and got out of the car, feeling anxiety set in.

"You should also call your dad and tell him that we're here," she said as they walked towards the entrance. Kurt silently too out his phone from his pocket and unlocked it, going to the dialer. His fingers shook as he tried to type in Burt's phone number.

"Hello?"

"Hi, we just got here...Dad, I'm scared," he said quietly.

"Don't worry, kid, you'll be okay. I should be there in twenty minutes. You'll be fine."

"I could be worse," Kurt let out a nervous laugh, thinking of Burt after his heart attack.

"Don't joke about that!" Burt said sternly, but then sighed. "Sorry, I'm just a little stressed...I'll see you soon, okay? Hang in there. Love you."

"You too." He hung up, looking around the waiting room. To his pleasant surprise, it wasn't as packed as he expected it to be, however, there were still a lot of people waiting to be helped. The ER itself was not too great, considering that the "rooms" consisted of closed curtains. The hospital was renovating, according to a sign above the check-in, which explained the crudeness of the section.

"I'm going to check you in, why don't you take a seat?" Mrs. Devon suddenly appeared next to him, handing himThe Magician's Nephewto read while he waited. Kurt nodded vigorously, subconsciously running his left index finger up and down his right forearm as he sat down in a chair as close as he could get to the check in. His arm was tender, but not bleeding anymore. Kurt tried to keep it elevated, holdingThe Magician's Nephewin his good hand. It was as good as he'd remembered, and slowly began to feel himself fall into the story.

That was something that Kurt loved about books so much. He could be in a hospital full of screaming babies and moaning people, but still find himself in England, with two children and magic rings. Even with the glee club now in his life, he knew that nothing could take precedence over his infatuation with books.

Mrs. Devon came back and sat down next to Kurt, holding a clip board in her hands.

"You need to fill out this form. I don't think you should write until the doctor sees you, so I'm going to need you to help me. I think I'm going to need your name, unfortunately. Don't worry, I won't tell him."

"Okay. Kurt Hummel." She wrote it down with little reaction, just a genuine smile. He continued to give her his information. Kurt knew that he could trust her with it-he just hoped that she wouldn't slip like she almost did with BDA's name.

"Okay, there are a couple of things your dad needs to do, we'll wait for him."

"He should be here in about five more minutes." Kurt replied, checking his watch. He then picked his book back up and started reading again.

"You look like him too, when you read," Mrs. Devon said, breaking the silence between them (the hospital was still alive with loud beeps and shouts of pain), "not how you're in the most ridiculous position with your arm up and such, just how you look when you read, like your body is but an empty shell, and the rest of your being is in the book. You must love reading as much as he does."

"Yeah," Kurt said, feeling himself blush. It was strange how Mrs. Devon watched him, but this observation was interesting to Kurt. He wondered how they'd interact if they ever met each other.

Suddenly he saw a figure rushing towards him out of the corner of his eye.

"Kurt! How are you feeling?" Burt stopped in front of him, at first going in for a hug but then realizing that wasn't the best thing to do to someone with a crippled arm. He stared at his son with worry, his eyes latching onto Kurt's injury.

"I'm okay, Dad. Just glad that you're here," Kurt said, his eyesight blurring slightly. Why am I crying?

"Hello, you must be Mr. Hummel? I'm Mrs. Devon, Bl- I mean, BDA's grandmother," she extended her hand to Burt, who gave her a confused look while shaking it.

Crap. "Uh, Mrs, Devon? My dad doesn't exactly, um..." His voice trailed off, hoping that he wouldn't have to explain further.

"Oh, right. Well, never mind. I just noticed that your son looked very disheveled at the library, and decided to check in on him. That cut looks a little nasty, so I just wanted to make sure that it got proper medical attention. I just need you to fill out some of your information on this packet."

"Thank you so much. Thank you." Burt sputtered, and took the clipboard from her, sitting down next to Kurt. As Kurt watched his father fill out the paper work, he realized why he was crying. His dad meant the world to him, and having him there after such an awful event was just too much for Kurt to bear. He watched Burt as he finished up filling all of the blank spots, his heart swelling with appreciation for his father.

"Okay, I've finished," Burt exclaimed after a couple of minutes. Mrs. Devon got up, and Burt followed suit.

"We have to hand this in. Hopefully this won't take much longer," Mrs. Devon said, and they left. Kurt stared down at the book in front of him. He was almost done (it was a pretty short picture book, and Kurt was a very fast reader), so he reached over into Mrs. Devon's large handbag, where he found the Book sticking out. He took it, opening to the most recent entry and starting where he had left off.

I don't know what we should read next; I think that an older book is what we need. I love the classics, you can't go wrong with reading them. We do need to read a "chick-flick" book as well (NO NICHOLAS SPARKS PLEASE), but I'm not feeling it right now. MaybeLord of the RingsandThe Hobbit?

Fun fact: I am the size of a hobbit. See, you learn new things every day.

Oh, congratulations on getting that A- on your English paper about Romanticism poems. I love Longfellow, he was great. That reminds me, we should really get some Poe in here too. I know he wrote poems and short stories, but damn, his writing is fantastic. Yes, I know that he was a little messed up with the whole opium abuse thing and marrying his 13 year old cousin, but did he have a way with words!

Changing the subject, I thought of you today in my English class because we were peer editing, and my partner started one of his sentences with "But". I couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the period; I suggested that he get a book about grammar, since he also had a bunch of other mistakes ("a lot" is TWO WORDS, not one! You're a junior, for God's sake!), but he didn't reply with the same sass you did.

I think that we should start a little tradition, with this being our third week. Wow, how the time has flown. Anyway, I think we should write inspirational quotes at the end of these notes...I don't know, I just think it's cute, and a fun thing to do.

I use the term "inspirational" loosely, but I am going to start with one:

"There's always something to smile about. Always." -Joey Richter.

His name seems vaguely familiar...oh well. I just saw it somewhere, and thought it might be relevant. Can't wait to "talk" to you soon!
-BDA

"Hummel, Kurt?" A female voice called out. Kurt picked up his head, his lips curled into a smile. BDA had no idea how relevant it was.

"That was not fun," Kurt said two hours later. He was sitting up in his hospital bed, with curtains enclosing him, Burt, and Mrs. Devon. He examined his arm, which had been wrapped up over his cut that had required twenty-eight stitches. It was still numb from the shot, and he couldn't get the image of the doctor and the stitching instrument out of his head. He wasn't allowed to write for a week, nor shower for two days, and in two weeks he'd get the stitches out.

"No, it wasn't fun watching. Now do you want to tell me what really happened? I know you were lying when you told him you 'fell'," Burt made quotation marks with his fingers, "you may be a good actor, but I know you too well, Kurt Hummel."

Kurt sighed; his father did have a right to know. He hoped that he'd have the strength to recount what had taken place. Then, he got an idea.

"Mrs. Devon? Can you get out the Book and write all of this down?"Might as well kill two birds with one shot, he thought. Mrs. Devon nodded and took it out, preparing a new page.

"What-"

"Let me explain first," Kurt cut him off, and launched into his story.

"-so I walked to the library, because I figured that I could send time reading and helping out...someone with this project we started three weeks ago."

"Let me interrupt, please," Burt said, stopping Kurt before he could explain the Book Project. "These kids threw you in the dumpster?! That's why you smell like crap and your clothes are so disgusting? Also, you skimmed over what Karfosky did, what did he do to you?" Burt had this look on his face that Kurt had only seen once before-when his mother passed away.

"Karfosky..." Kurt could hardly say it, but he knew that he needed to. It still seemed so surreal, like an awful nightmare that one just can't divulge. Out of nowhere, however, Kurt found the words tumbling out of his mouth.

"Karfosky kissed me. He corned me and kissed me, and then I kicked him and tried to escape and he beat the crap out of me." Kurt said, somehow feeling relief and worry at the same time. While he was glad to finally say the words, he was worried about how his dad would receive them.

Just as he suspected, Burt's face turned red. "He-he kissed you?! Why?" he exclaimed.

"I don't know," Kurt suddenly realized. "He kind of called me the only gay kid at school, emphasizing on the only...oh God," Kurt said. "I wonder..."

"Kurt, I...I don't know what to say," Burt said, stammering a little. Kurt knew that Burt was a little uncomfortable with his son's orientation, and probably even more uncomfortable with hearing about Kurt's, for lack of a better term, interactions inthatway. He'd never really talked to Kurt about those sorts of things.

"You know what? We'll figure this out later, what action we should take. First, I just want to make sure that you're feeling okay." Burt said, walking over and lightly grabbing Kurt's good hand.

"I'm okay. I should have expected things like this to happen. This is kind of how BDA was treated too, right?" Kurt turned to Mrs. Devon, who said yes.

"Now would you mind telling me who this BDA is, and that project thing you mentioned? I hope it's appropriate," Burt said, exasperated. Kurt laughed at the crazy idea.

"When I go to the library, I don't just...read. A few weeks ago I found this Book, a journal with summaries and reviews about a bunch of books. I just decided to write back to the guy who it belonged to, and then we started collaborating. Except I wanted to stay anonymous, my name being KH and his BDA. We're really good friends now, I guess." Kurt ended, shrugging his shoulders. He realized just how odd their friendship was. To him, though, it didn't matter-they still had a strong bond, no matter how strange the foundation was.

"That's interesting...hmm. You don't even know this kid's name, or age?" Burt asked.

"Not the name, but don't worry, he's seventeen, just a year younger than me. Mrs. Devon can vouch for that, I just found out today that she's his grandmother," Kurt smiled at her.

"Yes, I am! My grandson talks about your son all of the time. Kurt is wonderful to him. He has quite a few homosexual friends at his private school, but none like Kurt."

A nurse came in through the curtains. "Okay, Kurt has been discharged. You're free to go." She left as quickly as she came.

Burt squeezed Kurt's hand lightly, and got up, taking Kurt's bag, which Mrs. Devon had gone to retrieve from her car. "Ready to go, kid?"

"Yeah." Kurt swung his legs over the side of the hospital bed he'd been lying in for hours, gently placing his hands on either side of him. He stepped down, cautiously placing both legs on the ground. He stood there for a second, and then walked by his dad's side. They were joined by Mrs. Devon, and left the room together, arm in arm.