Blaine was pacing up and down outside Socks' still empty stable. He was so sure he had shut the door; he even remembered doing up the bottom bolt. There's no way Socks could have gotten out if the bottom bolt was done up. Someone had let him out or taken him on purpose. Doubt had begun to creep into Blaine's mind – had he done up the bolt? Had he lost Socks?

On other note, would Kurt ever trust him again?

Blaine started biting the corner of his lip to try and keep from crying again, breathing in shallowly. He leant on the door of Socks' stable and muttered "I'm sorry boy, I'm so sorry" He brought his forehead down onto his forearms, continuing to lean on the door. His shift had finished half an hour ago, Kurt didn't want him around at the moment and even still Kurt wasn't back, he was thinking he should probably just go.

However, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the tiniest scrap of navy material caught on the bottom bolt. He crouched down to look a bit closer, stuck to it was a single strand of white fur. Blaine plucked the material away from the bolt and studied it. The fur wasn't Socks'; it was too course to be horse hair. Blaine suddenly looked round, dropping the patch of material in his haste; Pepper the dog hadn't been there all morning either. The puppy normally sat on top of the hay bales or next to a stable but he was nowhere to be found.

The fur was almost a complete match for his though. Pepper had a calming effect on Socks, he often played outside his stable and the horse watched the puppy with interest. It would make sense; if someone had tried to take Socks forcefully, the dog would have intervened. Of course, the doubt in Blaine's mind was telling him 'You're jumping to conclusions, you're just hoping this is what happened to get your sorry ass off the hook' but he shook it off.

"Pepper?" he called out, half-hoping, almost half-not-hoping that the dog would respond, No reply, no woof, no bark, just the wind and the horses breathing soundly in their stables, unaware that two of their own had gone.

"Pepper? Here, boy!" Blaine called again. He looked round. There was no-one else around so he sucked in a deep breath and shouted "PEPPER!"

He waited a few seconds, but still nothing. "Damn" he muttered aloud. He admitted defeat and figured he would just leave. Kurt probably needed some space anyway. Sighing, and beginning to walk away, he heard the tiniest, barely audible whimper. His head shot up. "Pepper?" Blaine whispered warily.

Again, the softest whimper. Limping, and clearly in pain, his front left paw in the air, Pepper the dog struggled through the barn door. "Pepper, are you okay buddy?" Blaine cried, rushing to the dog, knowing full well he couldn't answer but it seemed like the right thing to say. He picked the puppy up in his arms. Blaine noted that the white and black fur was matted with blood on his paw; there were scratches all over the dog's body.

The dog relaxed against Blaine's chest visibly and nudged Blaine's chin with his wet nose, clearly happy to be home with someone who cared about him. Blaine kissed the top of the dog's head and hugged him closer. Pepper was freezing; he'd been out all night from the looks of it …with a broken paw as well!

"Come on, let's get you some…" Blaine's voice trailed off when he realised he wasn't alone in the room anymore. Kurt was standing in the doorway, regarding the pair in front of him.

"No joy?" Blaine asked quietly, his fingers teasing in Pepper's fur for comfort. Kurt shook his head and sniffed, he'd clearly been crying.

"What happened to him?" Kurt nodded towards the puppy, his arms folded against his chest.

"I don't know, broken paw, some cuts, I'm gonna drive him to vets now" Blaine replied awkwardly. He wasn't sure how to approach Kurt now.

"Okay" Kurt answered coolly.

"I'll see you soon?" Blaine answered hopefully. Kurt swallowed, lowered his gaze and didn't say anything.

Two hours later

Blaine returned with a bandaged up Pepper. His paw was broken but none of the cuts were serious and he would be okay in no time. The vet had given him sufficient fluid to warm him up and given Blaine some tablets to put in the dog's food to stop any of the cuts getting infected.

Kurt hadn't rung the police yet. As with a missing person, the police wouldn't do anything until Socks had been gone for 24 hours.

Kurt was sat on the hay bale, his feet curled up beneath him, his eyes staring at nothing. Rachel Berry was sat beside him, her arm wrapped around his shoulders. Blaine coughed quietly to make sure they knew he was there. Kurt's eyes shot up and he smiled the tiniest bit.

"I will leave you two alone for a while" Rachel said, patting Kurt's shoulder. "I'll go help your dad in the field okay Kurt?" He nodded.

Blaine looked at the floor and scuffed his feet nervously.

"I'm sorry I shouted at you" Kurt said quietly. "I, er, found the navy material by the stable door. And there was a ripped leather bracelet caught inside the door. Whoever took him wasn't very good at not leaving clues behind"

"Apparently so" Blaine replied.

"I shouldn't have doubted you. I'm so sorry. I do trust you Blaine. I trust you more than anyone. I know you would have shut that bolt and if you say you did then you did. Some other dickhead has taken him away, but I don't blame you. Please know that"

"Apology accepted" Blaine smiled warmly. They were still several metres apart but Blaine held his arms out and raised his eyebrows. Kurt grinned and swung his legs forward, crossing the space in two strides, stepping right into Blaine's arms. Kurt flung his arms around Blaine's neck and hugged him tightly. "I really am sorry" he whispered into the fabric of Blaine's jumper, burying his head into Blaine's warm neck. "I'm sorry for letting you walk away without me" Blaine whispered back. Kurt could do nothing else but kiss him.

Despite the worrying situation, the kiss quickly became heated; Kurt titled his head to deepen the kiss and Blaine's hand slowly danced up Kurt's back. Just as Blaine moved to kiss Kurt's neck, Kurt whispered "Can we continue this once we have found my horse?"

"Sure" Blaine answered, pulling back. They both leaned in for one last quick peck and they withdrew from the other's embrace.

"Do we have any clue where he might be?" Blaine said, sitting next to Kurt on the hay bale, his arm wrapped around Kurt's waist. Kurt sighed, picking at his nails sadly. "No, no-one saw anything, except you eh boy?" Kurt smiled a little as Pepper began to nose at Kurt's boots. His paw had been strapped up in a green bandage and Pepper was highly distracted by the newfound heaviness on his leg.

Kurt's eyes suddenly flashed with an idea. "No-one saw anything but him!" he grinned excitedly. Blaine stared at him as if he had gone mad. Kurt jumped up and grabbed the brush he used to groom Socks with from the shelf by the stable, holding it to Pepper's nose. The dog sniffed it reluctantly at first but after a while, he realised what Kurt was trying to do. The puppy kept his nose on the ground and began hobbling towards the door.

By this point, Blaine had realised what was going on and grabbed the squirming puppy. "Kurt, he can't walk anywhere!"

"But he's got Socks' scent!" Kurt said pleadingly. Blaine sighed. He noticed the saddle mounted on the wall behind him. "I have an idea. Keep Pepper here while I tack up Darcy and TJ okay?" Blaine said, passing the puppy into Kurt's arms. The dog had clearly caught something, squirming and writhing in Kurt's arms and was eager to get going.

Ten minutes later, Blaine was sat on Darcy, an unzipped rucksack in front of him balancing on the saddle and between Blaine's legs. Kurt eyed the wary contraption uneasily. "Are you sure this is gonna work?" Kurt asked, staring nervously at the rucksack.

"No" Blaine replied "But's it's worth a try" he held his arms out for the puppy. Pepper was also not too sure about the rucksack and tried to manoeuvre away from the rucksack. "Come on boy, do it for Socks" Blaine said soothingly. The puppy came close to a dog version of a sigh and let himself be placed into the rucksack. Blaine zipped it up a little bit so he wouldn't fall out. Kurt clambered onto TJ and nodded at Blaine.

Pepper barked, moving his little head to the left. Blaine kicked Darcy on, who was looking slightly bewildered at the fact he had a puppy in a rucksack on his back. Kurt clambered on TJ and followed them.

They carried on down the little path past the fields, Pepper barking to tell them to keep going. They came to the end of the path after about ten minutes but Pepper nudged Blaine's left hand with his nose, saying 'That way'

"Blaine, are you sure this is a good idea?" Kurt said, all he could see in that direction was trees and no path. "After all he is only a puppy; maybe we should just call the police or something"

Pepper turned his little head towards Kurt and barked aggressively. "I'm serious, that is the most human dog ever" Kurt said, shaking his head but smiling at the dog.

"Come on, we are two boys, two horses and a dog, we can battle some trees" Blaine said, although his heart wasn't quite in it. Even he wasn't so sure now.

Blaine kicked Darcy on and the horse whinnied softly, his brown eyes looking back with concern at Blaine. "Come on boy" The horse reluctantly moved forward.

Blaine balanced on the saddle, removing one hand from the reins to keep it above his head to avoid being hit by branches. "Pepper, where we going?"

Pepper barked twice and nudged Blaine's right hand. Blaine willingly followed.

They pushed through trees for a while until they came to a narrow, muddy trail.

"Blaine, look! Horse prints!" Kurt said pointing to the ground. Pressed into the soft mud, there were hoof prints, some looking as if they had been dragged through the ground, like the horse had put up a struggle.

"That has to be him" Kurt said, concern dripping through his voice again. Panic began to rise in his chest again – what if Socks was hurt again?

"Kurt, calm down, at least if it is him, we know he is alive and still fighting" Blaine said, awkwardly leaning over Pepper in the rucksack to give Kurt's hand a squeeze. Kurt gave him a grateful smile and moved TJ on.

There was a tiny run down hut at the end of the trail. The wood was rotting, the glass in the window smashed, moss creeping its way up the outside of the building. The hoof prints stopped outside. Kurt jumped off TJ and warily pushed open the weak door.

Blaine lifted the reins of each horse over their heads and looped it round a nearby tree stump. He lifted Pepper out the rucksack and put him on the floor, shushing him as the puppy followed Blaine to reach Kurt. Pepper had been here before and he wasn't pleased to be back.

Kurt felt Blaine reach out to take his hand as the door creaked open. The room it lead to was dark and dusty, a smell of mildew in the air. Kurt swallowed nervously and at the moment, he was eternally grateful Blaine was with him; there was something very creepy about an abandoned shed in the middle of a forest.

"Anyone here?" Kurt called out. He noted a light switch to the side of him as they walked into the room. He flicked it and a dusty light bulb buzzed into life, flooding the room with what little power it retained.

"Oh my god" Kurt whispered. Blaine gasped and gripped Kurt's arm with his free hand. Pepper whimpered and moved behind Blaine's leg.

"What did they do to you?"