There were tears in Blaine's eyes as he sat on the plane looking out over sleepy towns. Towns where people were in their homes with accepting parents. Loving parents.

Blaine was on his way to his mom's in Seattle, hopefully for good. When his parents had gotten divorced he had been too young to tell the judge that he wanted to go with his mom. His dad had never been there for him, constantly lacking that fatherly love that Blaine thought was instilled in every man with a son, especially a son like Blaine.

Blaine wasn't surprised with how his dad had reacted when he walked into his room that night to come out. His ribs hurt, his head hurt, his eye hurt, and on top of it all he had to make the painful phone call to his mom.

His mom who was probably freaking out at home because she was in Cle Elum, Washington and Blaine was in Des Moines, Iowa.

"Dad."

Blaine Anderson knocked on the door frame, looking at his dad. His palms were sweaty and his heart was racing.

"Yes, son?" His dad removed his glasses and shut his laptop.

"Can I talk to you about something?" Blaine sat on the edge of the bed, wringing his hands.

"Yes but make it quick. It's late."

Blaine cringed at the uncaring tone in his father's voice.

"Okay.. Dad I don't really know how to go about this but. I'm gay."

Blaine's dad's eyes glazed over. Blaine thought for a moment, just a moment that his dad would be okay with this.

Instead his father slapped him.

"I will NOT have a faggot son!"

"Dad, I can't help it!" Blaine clutched his face, which stung from his dad's hand.

"You can, and you will. If you don't want to you can get your ass out of this house." His dad walked out of the room but Blaine followed.

He was tired of this.

"Dad, I'm gay and if you can't accept that- Ow!"

Blaine crumpled to the ground as his dad's fist made contact with his eye. His dad kicked him in the stomach before walking to the study and slamming the door behind him.

Blaine went into a frenzy, packing his bags and dialing his mom's number.

"Hi sweetie! How are you?"

"Mom dad hit me and I can't do this anymore can I come stay with you for a while?" Blaine choked back tears.

"That bastard. Of course you can. Let me get you a ticket. Can you get to the computer to print it or can your phone do something like that?"

"I can use my phone. I love you." Blaine felt a little better knowing that he had a safe place to go now.

"I love you too. What happened?" His mom sounded like she was crying.

"I..I told him I was gay." Blaine stopped packing. He hadn't told his mom this either.

"I knew there was a reason you were so good at picking out clothes for me."

Blaine laughed lightly. It was nice to be accepted by someone. He walked out the door a half hour later, hopefully for the last time.

People were starting to wake up on the plane and Blaine shook out of the flashback, wiping his eyes. There wasn't much left to the flight but Blaine walked back to the bathroom to see if he was bruising yet.

He looked in the mirror and gasped.

His face was pale. Purple bruises feathered along his left eye and cheekbone. There was a cut on his lip and a bruise on the other side of his face with clearly defined fingertips.

He pulled up his shirt to reveal two large bruises around his ribs. He pressed them and hissed at the pain.

His dad had really hit him good this time.

He returned to his seat, noticing for the first time how sore he really was. He ached everywhere. Some people took in his appearance, some looked away with sad eyes, some just stared.

He was used to it.

When Blaine got off of the plane his mom took in his appearance with fresh tears in her eyes.

She hugged him and he gasped from the pain in his chest. She pulled back, pushing his hair back and looking at his eye.

"That son of a bitch."

Blaine just shrugged, "He told me he didn't want a faggot son. Then he showed me."

"Sweetie you didn't deserve this." His mom hugged him again, careful to avoid his bruises.

"Can I stay here with you, like, permanently?" Blaine pulled back looking at his mom. She had olive toned skin, freckles, black hair that hung in ringlets, and smile lines. Her teeth were white and her smile was bright and lovely. His mom was short like him, she had hazel eyes, and was slim.

"I would never let you go back there."

Blaine was standing in front of his mirror the following Monday morning. It was his first day of his new school and he was a little nervous. They had to wait a few days to enroll Blaine because the bruises were being stubborn. His mom had taken him to the doctor the day after he'd arrived and found out Blaine's dad had fractured a rib.

He sighed and headed to the kitchen where his mom was setting down two plates of food. Blaine sat down across from her.

"I know the circumstances aren't ideal, but it's nice to have you home honey." His mom put her hand on top of his, giving him a kind smile.

"It's nice to be home. By the way mom, your cooking is amazing."

"Thanks sweetie." She got up and started a pot of coffee, leaning against the counter.

Blaine finished his food and went to set it in the sink, hugging his mom. She pulled back and looked into his eyes.

"Blaine, I need you to know something. Whether you were gay or not you're still my baby boy. I love you no matter what, and just because that asshole can't see what a wonderful man you are doesn't make you less than that."

Blaine just nodded, leaning into her shoulder.

He had seen his mom less and less as the years went on. Hugging her now, knowing that he wasn't expected to go back to his dad's house any time soon, maybe ever, made everything okay. That's what parents were supposed to do, right? Make everything okay the best way they can. He didn't have this gnawing at his heart anymore like he did when he lived with his father. It was replaced by a much happier emotion.

Hope.

"I better get going." Blaine grabbed his jacket off the coat rack before grabbing his schedule.

"You want to borrow the truck? I'll take the jeep." His mom tossed him the keys. He didn't catch them.

"Nice catch, honey." His mom laughed before going upstairs to get ready for work.

"Thanks mom! Love you too." Blaine giggled and stuffed the keys in his jacket pocket before walking out the door.

It was raining and he pulled his hood over his head, making his way to the small, black truck in the driveway. Looking back at the house he remembered all the good memories.

It was a nice house, not too big or small. It was beautiful, actually. Blaine remembered running around there with a girl named Roslyn who visited Blaine's mom a lot and brought her with. She had long brown hair and tan skin. Her large brown eyes were always bright with happiness, and freckles dusted her complexion.

Blaine frowned as he started the truck, he missed her. Maybe she still lived here.

Inside the cab of the truck soft music was playing. Blaine drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. There were nervous butterflies in his stomach and he checked the digital clock every few minutes. When he finally saw the school it looked harmless enough. He got out of his truck and walked towards the admissions office. He gave sweet smiles to the kids who glanced at him with curious eyes. They smiled back, a few even waved. It's like they were expecting him.

Although in a town of almost 2,000 people what did he think was going to happen?

Blaine welcomed the warm air in the small building and pulled off his hood. The lady behind the desk was young, maybe in her twenties. She had brown hair and smiled at Blaine.

"Hello dear, what can I help you with?"

"Hi, I'm new here." He offered his hand and she shook it.

"You must be Blaine. You're a junior.. right?"

"Yes ma'am."

She laughed and handed him a few papers. "I just need you to get a few things signed, saying you can use the computers here, you can go on field trips, and here's one if you want to leave a bottle of Advil in the office. I hope you enjoy your first day, sweetie."

Blaine thanked her and folded the papers, putting them in his messenger bag. He walked out of the doors colliding with a small, brown haired girl.

"Oops. Sorry." Blaine apologized and picked up a large history book, handing it back to her.

"No, no. It was my fault. You're new here, I'm Rachel." Instead of shaking his hand she gave him a small hug and offered Blaine a warm smile. Forward.

"Blaine."

"I know. Hey, what's your first class?" Rachel offered her hand for his schedule and he handed it to her. They started walking to the main building.

"We have like, all the same classes. Minus English. Why are you taking senior English?"

"I really love writing. They bumped me up after seeing a couple of my essays."

"That's cool. Since you're new here, do you want to sit with me and my friends at lunch?" Rachel looked at him with light eyes.

"Of course." Blaine smiled. Rachel was forward, but incredibly nice. She had dark brown hair with bangs that were cut edgily across her forehead. Her eyes were brown and her skin was pale. She was very pretty, which was why it didn't surprise him when a tall boy approached her and slipped his arm around her waist.

"This is my boyfriend, Finn. Finn, this is Blaine. He's new here."

"Hi Blaine!" Finn smiled and kissed the top of Rachel's head. They made conversation and Blaine took a chance to look around. All of the kids seemed close. They waved to each other, hugged each other, it all seemed so different from the hate-filled school Blaine had attended in Iowa.

It was nice.

When he and Rachel got to first period Blaine had already met a lot of people. Mercedes who had claimed that he was "too adorable for his own good", Brittany who had asked him if he knew the Hobbit from Lord of the Rings, Mike and Tina, who had claimed Blaine as their child, Artie, who had nearly ran over his foot and apologized at least ten times, and he had been hit on by a couple of sophomores. He sat through geometry, doodling in his notebook. He loved to draw characters from Disney movies. Half way through class Rachel looked over at his notebook.

"Wow, you can draw too? If you can sing you're a triple threat."

"I'm not anything special, I promise."

She elbowed him in the side, which would have been completely harmless if he hadn't been healing from a broken rib.

Blaine took a sharp intake of breath, clutching his side.

"Oh my gosh did I hurt you? I didn't mean to hit you so hard."

"Rachel, quiet down." The teacher turned back around to the board after giving her a stern look. Blaine scribbled something in his notes.

Rachel, you didn't hurt me. I have an injury. Not your fault.

She gave him a look before writing in her own girly script.

What happened?

Blaine sighed, was he ready to tell her what really happened, or the "I fell, I ran into something" story.

Blaine shrugged internally. They always say honesty's the best policy.

Well the reason I moved is because my dad. He liked to hit me. Last time was really bad and he broke my rib.

Rachel gaped at him, taking his hand under the table and writing a response with her free one.

I'm so sorry Blaine. Anything I can do to help?

Blaine just shook his head and wrote down;

I'm with my mom and happier now. It's all good.

Rachel smiled and returned her attention to the board. Maybe this was the "amazing high-school experience" everyone was talking about.

When it came lunch time Blaine sat at the table with Rachel, Finn, Mercedes, Brittany, Mike, Tina, and Artie. He looked around curiously at the small cliques that surrounded them. They weren't like the groups at his old school though, they waved when they walked past or stopped to say hello. It wasn't until Blaine looked at a table that had been desolate just five minutes ago that he saw them.

"Woah." Blaine ogled at the teenagers from across the room.

"Oh yeah. Those are the Evans'." Rachel offered them a small smile and one of them, a blonde girl, returned it.

"The Evans'?"

"Well, they're an interesting family. The guy with the blond hair is Sam Fabray, and he's with the girl with black hair, Santana Evans. The blond girl is Quinn Fabray, we're pretty close, and she's with the big one, Puck Evans. And then there's Kurt Fabray. There's a lawyer and his wife that adopted them because they couldn't have kids. They all live in the same house, which is a little weird because of the couples.. They're different families though. To each their own I suppose." She chewed nonchalantly, as if the group of teenagers that practically radiated beauty were normal.

They didn't seem normal.

"Kurt, the new kid is staring." Quinn tapped Kurt on the shoulder.

Ah, the mysterious boy that had showed up in almost every girl's mind in the flesh.

"Who isn't?" Kurt replied with his voice thick with annoyance. He hadn't hunted in weeks and it was enough to make anyone agitated.

"He's cute, don't you think?" Quinn went to elbow Kurt in the side but he avoided it in one fluid motion.

"I suppose."

Kurt searched his mind for a new voice. Ever since he was changed he could hear the mind of everyone around him. He had spent two years at this high-school, every voice was practically embedded in his head. The 77th high-school he had attended, and most definitely the smallest.. However, the monotonous mind of adolescents never ceased to amaze him.

To his shock, he couldn't hear the small boy's thoughts.

"I can't hear him." Kurt whispered into Quinn's ear.

"What do you mean?"

Kurt gave her a look, "I mean that I can't hear his thoughts."

Quinn cocked an eyebrow, "That's strange.. Maybe you're too far away?"

"I can hear Mrs. Conklin fantasizing about Puck and that's across campus. He's sitting right there."

Puck's thoughts went to the French teacher. Well at least she's hot.

Kurt let out a noise of disgust and stared forward at the boy. Through his inhuman eyes he could see every detail of the boy's face. He was cute. Actually, more than cute. He had what looked to be soft black hair, beautiful hazel eyes, and a positive disposition. That's not what intrigued Kurt most. It was the slight bruise that the human eye wouldn't be able to detect. It was the fact that no matter how hard Kurt focused, he could not hear Blaine Anderson's thoughts.

Blaine was curious as to why for the rest of that lunch period every time he glanced to the Evans' table Kurt was looking at him. More like, staring. His brow was furrowed and he looked completely stumped about something.

Something to do with Blaine?

When the bell rang he headed off to English, trying to clear his head. It was just.. The Evans' were so beautiful. Looking at them nearly hurt your eyes. They gave off this edginess that Blaine had never seen.

Blaine's arms ached from carrying around so many books, but he had been late to most of his classes because he didn't have his combination down. Instead, he resorted to carrying nearly every subject with him. He was walking through a hallway to get to the English room when he met an uneven patch of fabric and tumbled to the linoleum.

He whimpered and held his side. When Blaine recovered he gathered his books, sighing when the bell rang.

Late. To another class.

He walked into the English room and tensed when the teacher turned around, giving Blaine a harsh look.

"Nice of you to join us. Take a seat next to Kurt. Why are you late, Mr. Anderson?"

Blaine felt heat creep up his neck. "I, uh.. I fell in the hallway."

The class giggled and he hurried to his seat next to Kurt. He noticed that Artie was in this class and gave him a small wave.

The taller boy tensed up, scooting away from Blaine to the edge of the desk. Blaine frowned and opened his notebook. On top of being late, the throbbing pain in his side, and the fact that it was only Monday, he had managed to annoy someone already.

But how?

Kurt gripped the side of the desk. Every sense was going off in his brain. He had never wanted to taste a human's blood more than the innocent boy sitting next to him.

His throat was dry and every time Blaine shifted it hit Kurt worse.

He could go against Alexander. He could give in, just this once. Blaine sighed, sending a fresh wave of his scent to Kurt.

He dug his fingernails into his chair.

He had to get control.

Kurt spent the rest of the period trying to focus. Trying to calm the monster that seemed like it was provoking him to throw everything away. Alexander had done nothing but help Kurt. Given him a home, and for all intense and purposes, a family.

Draining Blaine of his blood, around all of these people, would be nothing but a grotesque insult.

The bell rang and Kurt lunged out of his seat, not turning back to see the hurt look that he knew Blaine would have on his face.

Blaine stood at his locker after English. He was racking his brain for something that would have hurt Kurt.

He was knocked out of his thoughts by a wheelchair wheel nudging his shoe.

"What's wrong, Blaine?" Artie helped Blaine with his not-so-cooperative backpack.

"Thanks. It's just, Kurt-"

"He kind of looked like he wanted you to burst into flames. What was that about?"

Blaine liked Artie, well from what he saw the first day he met him, but that didn't really help his mood.

"I don't know. That's what's bothering me." Blaine pinched the bridge of his nose before shutting his locker and walking to the office. Artie followed.

"I'm sure everything is okay. Where are you going?"

"Office. Have to drop off some forms." Blaine's heart dropped when he saw a familiar slim figure in the office.

"Okay dude. Talk to you tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed your first day. Listen, don't let him get you down. I'm sure he's just cranky."

Blaine nodded and patted Artie on the shoulder before sighing and walking into the office.

"Surely I could transfer to another English." Kurt sounded angry and his figure tensed up when Blaine walked in.

He just stormed past him and dropped his papers on the counter.

"Hi sweetie, how was your first day?" The lady behind the counter gave him a smile.

"It was good. Thank you very much. Have a lovely evening." Blaine turned before the reason behind his shaky voice became apparent. Before Kurt could look over and see the weakness in Blaine's eyes. Tears spilled over as he walked away.

Ever since he had been able to really understand his father he had wondered "Why doesn't he like me?" It was a constant question that he spent way too many nights crying about. His father had no reason to dislike him, yet it was the same thing over and over again. Missing a day or two of school to let a bruise heal. Hiding in his room to avoid the angry mess that was his father.

That's the only explanation he had for why he could feel like this about someone he barely knew. Kurt disliked him for no reason, but he wasn't going to run away from it again.

He was going to find out why Kurt Fabray hated him.

Kurt was sitting in his room typing a Biology paper.

"Quinn I can hear you. Come in."

The petite blond girl danced into the room, putting her hands on his shoulders.

"What's the matter with you? You hunted after school. You should be happy."

"It's nothing." Kurt avoided the Tell me, tell me, tell me, tellll me! coming from her thoughts.

"You're lying to me. What's wrong?"

Kurt sighed. "It's that new kid. I don't understand why I can't read his mind."

"Why don't you get to know him? Then you can just ask him what he's thinking." Quinn nudged Kurt over, making room for herself in the computer seat. She started typing. "Go sit over there and tell me what's really bothering you. I'll type this because you type slow."

"400 words per minute is slow?" Kurt scoffed and laid down on the couch in his room.

"I can do 600 easily, how long is this thing?" Quinn's eyes widened at the notebook.

"Five or six pages. What do you mean what's 'really bothering' me? I told you."

"Kurt, if you seriously think I'm that stupid.." She stuck out her bottom lip.

"Using your abilities to make me do what you want again? Fine. I don't know why, but his scent.. was intoxicating. I almost killed him." Kurt clenched his fists, why couldn't he forget the boy? He was just another teenager. Another teenager who had normal thoughts and- Well Kurt had no idea if his thoughts were normal. He let out a noise of frustration.

"Kurt, do you like Blaine?" Quinn ignored his ranting about murderous thoughts. Of course.

"I just told you I contemplated homicide and you're asking if I have a crush on him?"

"Yes."

Kurt sighed. "I don't know."

Quinn smiled and handed him his finished paper.

"You didn't have to do that. Thanks."

"I just typed it. You wrote it. How long did that take you?"

"Five, ten minutes."

Quinn nodded before walking out his room.

I love you no matter what big brother.

"I can still read your mind. Love you too."

Kurt sighed and sat on his couch.

He knew what he had to do.

"So he was mad at you for no reason?" Blaine's mom set down two bowls of ice cream and Blaine looked away from his homework to grab the bowl.

"I have no idea what his problem is."

Blaine's mom wiped ice cream off of his nose, laughing slightly.

"Blaine, I'm sure he was just, stunned by your looks. I bet tomorrow will be better. How are you doing though?"

"What do you mean?" Blaine took a sip of water.

"With all of this stuff with your dad. I saw you holding your side earlier too. Are you feeling alright?"

Blaine laughed. "I'm fine mom, I fell in the hallway and hurt it again I think. My dad isn't here, and I'm happy without him. It feels like I can breathe again."

"You fell? How? And sweetie I just wish you had told me what was going on earlier."

"Uh yeah. The carpet tripped me. I would have if I would have known I could come live with you whenever I wanted."

"Well I made some calls today. I had to make sure this is all legal and that you can't be forced back to your dads."

"And?" Blaine's heart started to pick up.

"Oh no don't get upset. You can stay. Papers are being signed probably at this moment."

Blaine sighed with relief.

Things were going to be okay.

"Okay, time for bed. The doctor said you need a lot of sleep to heal. Love you Blainers."

"Love you too mom."

He put his dishes in the sink and walked upstairs. Crawling into bed felt like heaven on his sore muscles.

Blaine woke up the next morning sore from his fall but with a positive outlook. He was going to confront Kurt.

His mom was already gone for woke when he got downstairs, so he skipped breakfast and walked out to the truck. Well tried to. He got a few steps and slipped on the icy concrete.

He caught himself, avoiding more pain to his rib.

"That's right. I'm smooth." Blaine brushed himself off and slipped again, clutching onto his truck to keep from falling.

"Nevermind."

When he got to school he grabbed a few things out of his truck. He was closing his door when all hell broke loose.

He heard tired screeching, screams, and quicker then he could react a large red van was barreling towards him.

He flinched, covering his face.

This was how he was going to die.

Kurt watched in horror as Thomas's red van spun out of control, heading straight for Blaine. The look in the small boy's eyes tugged at something deep in Kurt's silent heart. He lunged forward, moving too fast for the human's eyes. Kurt pushed the van away, his strong arm crushing the incapable metal. He looked at Blaine, who was trembling beneath him and holding his side.

"Did you get hurt?" Blaine asked, looking at Kurt with guilty eyes.

"No. Did you?" His eyes flickered to Blaine's side. He shook his head.

"Preexisting."

What had happened to his chest?

Kurt was interrupted from his thoughts by four very loud and distinct voices.

Kurt, what are you thinking?

Kurt, you are putting our family in danger.

Did you kiss him? The truck's in the way!

Dammit Kurt, what the hell were you thinking?

Kurt sighed and moved as far away as the small space allowed. Within seconds there were teachers and students flocking around the accident. Kurt gave a fleeting look to Blaine, who had too many questions in his eyes, before jumping over the truck and escaping to the woods behind the school.

Too many questions he couldn't answer.