Welcome to my world of truth…

He hadn't had a run in with Uncle Tim in weeks. There were no fresh cuts or bruises on his body to use as evidence against his uncle, to prove to Blaine that the story he was about to tell wasn't a work of fiction. But all the answers to Blaine's once avoided questions were held in a scar. A scar that Blaine had already seen back when it was red and angry against his skin.

"You almost found out twice," Kurt said his voice more solid than he'd imagined it would be.

"When?" Blaine asked eying Kurt curiously.

Kurt took breath before he spoke, "The first time was right after I was having…oh, I think this time it was migraines."

"You were bleeding. You had a cut," Blaine said gesturing against his own side to reflect where the scar sat on Kurt's body, "It was infected."

"You remember."

"I don't think I'll ever forget," Blaine said, "And the second time?"

"Mellencamp was on my iPod. You'd just asked me to come with you to Sugar's Valentine's Day party and—"

"The bruise on your face," Blaine said, "You kicked me out when I started questioning it."

"I did."

"Kurt, I know what I saw. But I don't get what you're telling me."

With Blaine's words, it was finally time; he was going to tell someone everything. Kurt's swallowed the lump in his throat that was only replaced immediately by another, larger, lump. He was trembling and his head was spinning viciously and he took a deep breath through his nose to keep from fainting or vomiting, or both. Maybe he couldn't do this. Maybe he couldn't just come out and say it. With Rachel, he hadn't had to say anything; she'd suspected and was presented with evidence all over Kurt's face. He hadn't had to utter a word. But now Blaine was eying him suspiciously, but cautiously, waiting for him to say something. But all Kurt could do was cast his eyes down to the wooden floor of the stage while he tried to figure out which voice in his head to listen to. Either the one that was screaming at him that this was a bad idea, that telling Blaine could only lead to bad things; or the one that reminded him that telling Blaine everything would lift some of the pressure that had been sitting on his chest for so long.

Kurt felt something warm engulf his left hand. It was familiar in the way it laced itself through Kurt's fingers, squeezing gently. Suddenly the fear wasn't as overwhelming, though it was definitely still there. Kurt glanced over and found Blaine's hand with his, tethering him to the present, to them, instead of the millions of thoughts running through his head.

"Hey," Blaine said his voice a whisper right into his ear, "Hey, you're shaking."

Kurt leaned in until his forehead met the top of Blaine's head, indescribably thankful that Blaine didn't pull away from him. Kurt could feel the pressure building behind his eyes and he wanted to breakdown in Blaine's arms, no explanation required. But without an explanation, would Blaine's arms still be there to hold him? Would Blaine still let him cry on his shoulder if he had no idea why Kurt was crying?

"I've missed you," Kurt whispered, his voice still trembling. But if he was going to open himself up like he was about to, there was no use of hiding anything else from Blaine.

"I've missed to you too," Blaine said and the effects of his voice ghosted over Kurt's entire body, relieving him slightly of the ache in his heart.

Kurt pulled away to look Blaine in the eye. Blaine was looking back at him intensely and Kurt thought he saw that thing that still remained unsaid between them. That four letter word that had destroyed Kurt's world in the best possible way, at the worst possible time. Taking another deep breath and squeezing Blaine's hand, Kurt used the love he thought he saw in Blaine's eyes to gather the strength he'd been missing to utter the words he'd wanted for so long to say out loud.

"S-somet-times," Kurt said pausing because his voice was completely unstable. But he was going to do this. He had to do this, "S-sometimes-s my uncle…he's an alcoholic…h-h-e uh," Kurt pause again for another deep breath before trying to say it a different way, "The cut on my side was from a broken coffee mug that I landed on when my uncle pushed me and the b-bruise on my face. Was from when he punched me because—well I'm not sure I remember why he did it that time."

Blaine winced and took as step back, his eyes wide but still focused on Kurt. His jaw was slack as he gaped in stunned silence. They were both quiet for a long time, the only sound the buzzing the lights above them and the ragged sound of each other's breath. Blaine remained focused on Kurt who could see the wheels turning in Blaine's head. He knew that this was the moment he'd been dreading. He could practically feel Blaine running out of there and telling someone.

"Say something," Kurt pleaded in a soft voice.

"He punched you? He-more the once?" Blaine stammered though a few of the millions of questions running through his mind as he stood there stupefied.

Kurt only nodded slightly like he had when Rachel had found out. It was a relief to not have to repeat himself. He wasn't sure he could.

"I-I-I…feel like an idiot," Blaine said keeping Kurt's hand in his left while he ran his right over his face.

"Please, don't," Kurt said, "You didn't know."

"No, Kurt. I'm absolutely the worst person in the world. I should have known something was wrong both of those times, hell, I felt—I did know something was wrong. I should've done something. Told someone, should've made you tell me."

"I just would have pushed you away," Kurt said, mustering up a quarter of a smile, "so I'm really glad you didn't."

"And when you had mono?" Blaine questioned, "That was that was, that was—that?"

"That was probably the worst it's ever been. "

"When did you tell Rachel?"

"I didn't exactly tell her. She came over after everything that happened with us and walked right into my house. I wasn't exactly prepared for guests."

"And she's keeping this a secret for you? She thinks that you shouldn't tell anyone else? Not even her dads?"

"She agreed to only because I told her I'd never speak to her again if she told anyone."

"Kurt this is really serious stuff," Blaine said, his voice now taut. He was mad. Not at Kurt, but at Kurt's uncle, at himself, "It's cruel and he should go to jail."

"This isn't A Child Called It Blaine. He doesn't go out of his way to burn me or cut me because he thinks that I deserve it. And I don't live in the garage. I have my space and he usually doesn't bother me if I'm in there. I've got a lot of the things that most teenagers want from the time he used to shower me with gifts when he didn't know what the hell he was doing. And now? Now he's just—he's just another bully, Blaine. Only I am legally forced to live with him until I turn eighteen."

"You're defending him," Blaine said, the hysteria in his voice rising.

"No, I'm defending myself," Kurt said with an edged tongue wishing Blaine would understand him "I've figured out how to manage this Blaine. I've been doing it for a long time and I only have to do it for a little while more. I turn eighteen the week after graduation and on that day I will be on a flight to New York. I can handle this it until then."

"You shouldn't have to," Blaine shouted letting go of Kurt's hand.

"That's what you and Rachel keep saying," Kurt shouted gesturing wildly now that his hands were free. If someone heard them they would surely get in trouble, "neither of you understand that I do have to. If I turn him in, and he doesn't kill me for it, then I have to come back to Lima, face him again, relive each and every bit of the entire thing for a judge so that they can maybe send him to prison for five years. If I just stick this out for two more months, I leave. He won't be responsible for me anymore and I can take off to New York, no questions asked. I'll be free of him forever. I won't even care when his pathetic ass is rotting in the ground. When I leave Lima, my uncle becomes nothing more than a ghost. He no longer will be a monster."

"He'll still be a monster even if you escape."

"Then let him destroy himself. Let the guilt of what he's done eat away at him until he's dead. He's garbage Blaine."

"I can't believe I didn't notice this before," Blaine said, "Hell, I did notice it but I didn't think that it was…and you said everything was fine."

Blaine stepped closer to Kurt and grabbed his hand once more, happy when Kurt let him.

"Because it was. At least it was as fine as it was going to get. No one notices me Blaine; no one is paying enough attention. Someone told Miss Pillsbury about that burn on my hand at the beginning of the year and she thought it was self-inflicted. And when I told her that it was an accident, she let me walk right out of her office. She thought I was suicidal, not living with an abusive relative."

"But you've never tried," Blaine asked, his voice shaking. The anger inside him replaced with fear. Fear that Kurt…, "Right?"

"No," Kurt said grabbing Blaine's other hand, "I mean, I've thought about it. I thought that maybe it could be my alternative if I didn't get into Parsons. But I did and it hasn't crossed my mind once since then."

"You were going to-"

"But I didn't," Kurt repeated.

"But you-you thought about it."

"It was my back up plan," Kurt admitted ashamed, "But I don't need it. I got in. It doesn't matter anymore."

"But it does matter, Kurt."

"No," Kurt said, "it doesn't. Just let it go."

"I don't know if I can."

"I guess that's the most important question now isn't it? Can you keep this a secret? Can you not tell anyone else about what I've told you? Because if you can't, well, I don't know what I'll do but if you could let me know now so I can try and figure something out."

Blaine was quiet for a long time. In Blaine's silence Kurt began to come up with a million and one scenarios as to how this would go. He was certain that Blaine's silence meant that he wasn't going to keep this a secret. Would he tell the police? Miss Pillsbury? Would he confront his uncle himself? Tell Rachel's dads? Each scenario was followed by an ugly scene where he was left alone with Uncle Tim, forced to be dealt with by a firm hand or a solid object. Kurt had been so wrapped up in his thoughts he barely heard Blaine once he'd begun to speak.

"I won't tell anyone, Kurt," Blaine said, "But only if you've got this under control. I don't know if I can…if I can know the next time he hurts you and not tell someone. Because this isn't right."

"I know," Kurt said, "Thank you though."

Now that they'd run out of things to say regarding Kurt and his less than stellar relationship with his uncle, it was becoming more and more noticeable just how close Blaine was standing next to him. This was the first time Kurt stood before Blaine with everything out on the table. There were no more secrets, no more hidden demons kept in the closet so that Blaine wouldn't see them. Kurt felt exposed, completely naked and completely vulnerable standing in front of Blaine, their hands still clasped between them. But when his eyes lifted to meet Blaine, he'd never felt safer or more protected from a world that had been nothing but cruel to him until this brown-eyed, gelled haired boy with a dopey smile and touch that set his entire body on fire walked into his life. Blaine was the one good thing that came out of all the bad. Blaine was the thing that Kurt would be able to look back on and smile on years from now, though his heart would be aching. Because the circumstances hadn't changed and even now, Kurt knew that he could never be with Blaine again.

Blaine's knuckles ran softly over Kurt's cheek pulling Kurt from his mind back to the present, back to Blaine. Despite having made up his mind about where his relationship with Blaine was headed, Kurt leaned into Blaine's touch that filled him with a warmth that only Blaine could give; like he was standing in the summer sun.

When Blaine leaned in to kiss Kurt, it was gentle and chaste; Blaine's lips were soft as they pressed against Kurt's. And when Blaine pulled away, Kurt felt empty because that was it. There would be no more. He was just about to tell Blaine that when Blaine's lips crashed into his once again and he felt Blaine's hands take a firm hold of his hips, drawing him closer to Blaine. Tired of fighting, Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck, deepening the kiss until his kips matching the fervor and desperation of Blaine's. It had been a long time since they'd done this, since they'd been this close. But their lips moved together, their tongues danced, their teeth clacked, and their hands groped like they hadn't missed a beat. Like the memory of each other's bodies would never be erased from their minds as long as they lived. This was everything he wanted; to be wrapped up in Blaine totally. Forgetting about the rest of the world. He remembered back to when Blaine first kissed him. And after that when they kissed because it was new and exciting. And how after how the touch of Blaine's lips to his would wake up his entire body, nerve endings all sparking as they brushed against his skin.

Even as Blaine led them backwards until Kurt was pressed against the piano, this, Blaine, was everything he wanted. He wanted to be wrapped up completely in Blaine, forgetting about the rest of the world. Forgetting about all the bad that waited for them outside the walls of that auditorium. He remembered back to when Blaine had first kissed him. How after that when they kissed it was because it was new and exciting. And now though it wasn't new, it was just as exciting. The touch of Blaine's lips to his could wake up his entire body; nerve endings sparking as skin brushed against skin. But just as quick as Kurt's mind as made him forget the whole world, the whole world sought to remind Kurt that it existed and there was the faint sound of the bell reminding them that they'd missed first period, and with a flood of memories, reminding Kurt of why kissing Blaine was terribly, terribly wrong.

"No, no," Kurt said breaking the connection of his lips and Blaine's, moving his hands from where they had cupped Blaine's face to his shoulders afraid to break the contact between them completely, "We can't do this."

The hurt look that washed over Blaine's face broke Kurt's heart but Blaine's hands stayed at his waist, holding him there, "Why not?"

He wanted to push Blaine away, to put some space between them as he spoke, but he found himself unable to move, "B-because. I didn't tell you everything so that we would get back together. We can't get back together. I told you so that you would know everything, so we could stop walking on eggshells around each other and so that you could stop hating me and maybe I could have my friend back. I'm still leaving and my uncle is still a tyrant. I can't do the things that boyfriends should do. I can't go on dates with you. I can't go to prom with you. I can't do any of those things.

"I don't care," Blaine said, "I want to be with you."

"I can't be yours Blaine," Kurt said, "Not the way you want me to be. Not the way you deserve."

"And what if I don't care?"

"Please don't fight me on this Blaine. I want to be with you too. I just can't do that to either of us."

"You said that about us being friends, and look where we are now."

"That was different."

"No, not really. I want to kiss you now just as much as I wanted to be your friend then."

"Blaine—"Kurt started.

He never got to finish because Blaine's hand cupped his cheek and a second later, Blaine's lips were on his again. Kurt's thoughts about how they should be doing this, about how they couldn't be together so they shouldn't be kissing, were drowned out by the touch of Blaine's lips and with a whispered plea from Blaine, Kurt gave in again. Because they only had skipped classes in auditoriums and kissing before Kurt was New York bound. But for right now, that was enough. When they went back to the twisted version of reality they lived in, they would worry about the consequences of their actions. But in the middle of the auditorium, pressed against the piano with Blaine pressed against him, Kurt gave in to the little piece of happiness he had left.