A car pulled up in front of Blaine and a slender cheerleader climbed out, walked immediately to Blaine, and sat down next to him.

“Blaine,” said the person softly; placing a hand on his shoulder. “I’m here, Blaine. What happened?”

Blaine turned and looked at the person who had sat down next to him.

“T-thanks for coming, Rachel.”

“Don’t mention it, I’m always here. What happened?”

“W-w-well,” said Blaine, tears forming in his eyes as he tried to recount the evening’s events. “J-Jermaine s-saw me leaving wi-with Kurt, I’d bumped into him in the auditorium, you see, so we walked out together and, and…”

Tears fell down Blaine’s face, his body racked with sobs. He started shivering - it was cold outside and his shirt was thin. Rachel wrapped an arm around Blaine and pulled him close in an attempt to warm him up.

“Hey, you’re really cold, how about we go get a coffee?” said Rachel a secretive smile on her face as she had a plan.

He climbed into her car, pulled his legs to his chest, and Rachel drove off.

~~~

“Wait, Rachel, this isn’t the way to the Lima Bean. Where are we going- No! Rachel, going to talk to him will make everything worse,” said Blaine forcefully.

“Blaine, honey, you need to tell him how you feel… You really should talk to him.”

“But, but, but- I can’t Rachel… if Jermaine found out…” he said sobbing again, unable to finish that sentence.

“Kurt’s been worried about you. He knows Jermaine is doing something, he’s seen the marks on your arms…”

“But-”

“No buts, Blaine. You are going to talk to him, he should know. He’ll be more help than me anyway.”

The rest of the drive was silent, deafening; it was a good 20 minutes before Rachel pulled up outside Kurt's house.

“Come on, honey, he’s worried. He’s a friend, he’ll be better to talk to than I will.”

“But- I-err- Fine,” said Blaine, unable to think of another excuse.

Rachel walked him to the front door. Kurt opened, took one look at Blaine's dishevelled appearance, and ushered him inside. He thanked Rachel, who knew she was no longer needed. He directed Blaine upstairs to his bedroom.

~~~
“So, Blaine, what happened?” asked Kurt when he re-entered the room. He’d gone to make coffee and get some cookies. Blaine looked like he needed the comfort food. He also brought and ice pack for Blaine’s swelling cheek.

“Well, Jermaine can- Jermaine can get rather worked up,” Blaine said steadily, taking a deep breath. “He- he hits me.”

“What, Blaine, why? Why haven’t you said anything?” asked Kurt astounded that Blaine never thought to mention it.

“He- he, doesn’t like seeing me with other guys. He gets rather jealous, I mean he’s seen me fall in love twice and then he broke his own heart telling me he was straight and then he saw me do it again… with-with you,” he added quietly.

“You… what?” said Kurt hoping he sounded shocked enough at Blaine's revelation.

“Yeah, um about that last part…” said Blaine blushing slightly. “Erm, yeah, I kinda sorta, have-had-have a crush on you. I know it’s stupid and you’d never go for anyone like me but from the moment I saw you… it was at your first Cheerleading competition last year… My dad was a judge. Your eyes just captivated me. It’s why I chose McKinley. I wanted to try my hand at ‘the real world’ not the shielded protected version at Dalton. And then I came here and you were amazing, and I started to fall, despite the fact you didn’t know I existed, and then you spoke to me and just, I really like you… Kurt.”

Kurt just sat there, blinking. He knew Blaine had a crush on him but he didn’t expect Blaine to open up as much as he did - he just told Kurt everything, all the little details, everything about his crush.

“I knew you existed,” was all Kurt could find to say.

“You- you did?” Blaine asked, pulling Kurt out of his haze.

“Yes, of course I did… I noticed you from the moment you started at McKinley,” Kurt smiled, laughed slightly. “You reminded me of how I used to be… when I was in glee, before the popularity.”

“Oh.”

“It’s not stupid you know. I like you too. Boyfriends got in the way, I had Chandler. I thought you had Jermaine, then I didn’t have Chandler but you got Jermaine… And now we’re here, with your boyfriend assaulting you and confessing our love for one another.”

“I should leave the shithead, shouldn’t I? I should have left when he first started hurting me… I just was confused, and stupid. I still love him, is that wrong?”

“In my opinion you should leave him but that’s up to you. And it’s not wrong for you to love him, Blaine. He made you fall, and no amount of pain would make that go away.”

“I just don’t know what to do. Part of me hates him, but the other part of me knows that, my best friend, the guy I fell in love with is still somewhere… beneath that jealousy, the hatred of my friendship with you… I just really don’t want to lose him as a friend. We’ve been through a lot together.”

“I know, Blaine, I know. You need to do what’s best for you. You could try to change Jermaine, or you could get out and hope that the relationship hasn’t ruined your friendship. I can’t guarantee anything; it’s your choice, but you at least need to call him out on this crap.”

Tears started to roll down Blaine’s cheeks; he was scared but he knew what he had to do - he had to break up with Jermaine. He was terrified of what might happen if he did because Jermaine could turn really mean.

“Shush, don’t cry,” said Kurt reaching up to brush a tear off of Blaine’s cheek. He kept his hand cupped on Blaine cheek and stared into his glistening honey eyes.

Kurt leaned in pressing his lips to Blaine’s in a soft chaste kiss. Blaine swished his tongue along Kurt's top lip, sucking the lower into his mouth and nibbling. Kurt leaned further into Blaine and they lay down on Kurt's bed, Kurt on top of Blaine. He pressed his thigh into Blaine’s lap. Kurt's tongue darted inside Blaine's mouth, licking and tasting. Blaine moaned into Kurt's mouth. Alarm bells were ringing in the boy’s heads, fireworks shooting behind their eyelids. Blaine was suddenly shaking his head; it made it harder for Kurt to kiss those perfect, soft pink lips.

“Kurt, I can’t do this, not yet... I’m sorry,” said Blaine sitting up.

“No, don’t be, Blaine, I’m sorry; I shouldn't have kissed you. Would you like a ride home?” said Kurt, cheeks flushed, and straightening out his Cheerio uniform.

“Yeah, p-please. Erm, maybe you could stay with me for moral support? This is going to take a lot, to stand up to him... call him out and dump him.”

“Yeah, of course I will. Come on, let's go. He must be wondering where you are.”

“Oh erm, yeah, I guess.”

They climbed into Kurt’s navigator and drove to Blaine's house. It was getting late, it was around 7pm. Jermaine,must be wondering where he’s gone to.

“I am really sorry about the kiss,” said Kurt blushing again, as they pulled up outside Blaine's house.

“It was an amazing kiss, but I need to sort stuff out. Okay… just give me a little time. When I’m ready, I’ll let you know.”

“O-okay, you ready?”

“Couldn’t be more terrified- let’s go,” said Blaine climbing out of the car and walking up to his front door.