By Monday afternoon Blaine was at a complete loss about what he should do regarding his living situation. The weekend had been amazing for him, and for the first time in years he'd felt not only accepted but at ease. Being around Kurt's father was still sort of nerve- racking, but the man actually seemed to care about him. Had even gone out of his way to give his apartment a safety makeover, but was still a complete anomaly to him in so many ways. Every other fatherly figure in his life had failed him when he'd needed them most. His father had broken down and turned to alcohol after his mother's death. His grandfather had always been cold and aloof and then sent him off for someone at Dalton to handle. But Burt was patient with him, tender even, almost as if he knew what Blaine's worries and concerns were and was waiting for him to make the moves. It still didn't make the thought of completely giving up his current life any easier. He might hate living alone in a broken apartment, but it was so much easier than trying to fit somewhere he wasn't sure he belonged, even if he did feel accepted there.

Blaine shoved his hand into his jacket pocket and clamped his fist around the cool, smooth metal key. It was the one symbol of hope he'd never thought he'd ever find. He kicked off from the ground again as he rolled past his building and headed towards the nearby shopping center. With the many meals he'd been eating at the Hummels he could afford to buy himself something he actually wanted to eat for a change. At least for now he could. For all he knew, they might change their minds tomorrow, or him and Kurt might have a fight and that would be it.

As Blaine rolled through the bank parking lot he shook his head roughly to try and get rid of the thought. Even if he somehow made Kurt hate him, Carole wouldn't give up on him. At least he hoped not. The memory from a few nights ago made him at least think she wouldn't, but he was almost convinced he'd been projecting her onto that nurse. It had to be almost impossible for the two women to actual be the same person. The sudden screeching of a car's brakes locking up made him whip around in alarm as a little sedan squealed to a stop right next to him.

"What the hell is your problem?" the driver bellowed as he rolled the window down and stuck his head out. Blaine couldn't decide if he was surprised or not that Noah Puckerman, of all people, had almost run him over in a bank parking lot. Puck was staring past him at the bank, and Blaine chanced a quick glance behind him. Why the hell was Puck staring at an ATM like he wanted to rip its throat out?

"My problem?" Blaine retorted in disbelief. "You're the jackass treating a bank parking lot like a freeway so you can... drive your car into an ATM?"

Puck glared darkly at him, and Blaine knew he'd guessed right as the other boy slammed his fist down on the horn. As he clinked his tongue ring against the inside of his front teeth, he caught the expression on Puck's face. He knew that look in Puck's eyes. The one that said he was fucking done and was ready to throw himself to the lions if it meant someone would take notice of him for one second, would stop to care for only a few minutes. He'd been the same way the day he'd landed himself in juvie, maybe even before that. Completely at the end of his rope and fed up with nobody caring or listening or trying.

Instead of sneering or stepping aside, Blaine kicked up his skateboard and raised an eyebrow at Puck. "Most people say please when they want something," Blaine called out over the blaring horn.

" Get the fuck outta my way, Anderson," Puck sneered, letting up on the horn. "You've ruined enough already. Now move."

"No," Blaine said simply. God, what was he even doing? He didn't know anything about Noah Puckerman expect that he hated him for taking his title of badass at McKinley in a matter of days, and could bench press twenty pounds more than he could. Juvie on the other hand was something he was intimately familiar with, and it was the exact place Puck would end up if he tried to do what Blaine thought he was about to do. He dragged his tongue ring over his teeth again, shivering slightly at the reason he had it – the reason he still kept it. To remind himself of how much worse it could get.

Blaine flopped down onto the hood of Puck's car, feeling the metal cave slightly under his weight as he sat so that he was facing the windshield. He had half a mind to just jump off and walk away and let Puck do whatever stupid thing he was about to do. Nobody had ever tried to stop him. Nobody had cared enough to give him a second thought until it was too late. Maybe Kurt's good influence was starting to rub off on him, or maybe he just didn't want to watch someone else jump head first into his own situation. He honestly wasn't sure as he crossed his legs and set his skateboard across his lap.

"Get the hell off my car!"

Blaine ignored the shout and instead waited until he caught and held Puck's gaze. Behind the flashes of anger Blaine could see doubt, anxiety and desperation. Yeah, he'd definitely been there. "So are you going to take the whole thing or just the money inside of it?" he asked flippantly, spinning one of his skateboard's wheels and trying to appear as disinterested as he thought he should be.

"I swear I'll drive you straight into that thing– "

"I'm assuming you want to get caught, since without a mask or something your Mohawk is a dead giveaway," Blaine quipped at him, glancing down at his board and following the edges of the design on it. "Taking the whole thing will be your best bet at getting caught."

"What?" Puck demanded, some of his anger disappearing in his confusion. Blaine looked up again to find Puck's shoulders sagging slightly, his brow lined with confusion instead of anger now.

"Just some friendly help from one juvenile delinquent to another," Blaine said with a small shrug. "If the mad house is what you're aiming for, that is. Watch out for Shark if he's still there. He likes to rip out piercings... and give them if you don't have any."

Almost absentmindedly Blaine clinked his tongue ring against his teeth again. The noise seemed to attract Puck's attention. Puck's gaze was scrutinizing for a few seconds as he eyed Blaine suspiciously, but then his usual smirk fell into place.

"Oh, bullshit, Anderson," Puck decided after a moment. "A twerp like you would never sur– "

Blaine slammed his booted foot down on the hood, his ankle monitor flashing in the weak October sunlight. "Survive juvie? I was fighting to survive long before juvie, Puck. Don't think for one second you know my life better than I do and I won't do the same with you."

Puck's expression was stony as Blaine tucked his foot back under his other leg so that he was cross legged again. For a moment he stared off towards the shopping center, trying to decide what he should say next or if he should bother trying to say anything at all, but Puck beat him to the punch.

"Get in," Puck told him hoarsely. It was the broken quality to Puck's voice that made him slide off the hood without a second thought. Normally, he'd hesitate and wait to see some sort of ploy to trick him, but not right now. Not with someone who looked as lost as he'd been feeling for years. Not with someone who needed his own Kurt to open his eyes and heart to the world. The locks clipped, and he tugged the door open and silently dropped into the seat next to Puck.

For a long time they were both silent, listening to the still running motor make the car hum around them, and the random car that passed by on the main road.

"Does that really happen?" Puck asked suddenly. "The thing about the piercings."

"Um, yeah," Blaine swallowed thickly and crossed his arms. This was something he'd never told anybody, not even Kurt. He couldn't even explain to himself why he was telling Puck any of this, but it just felt... right. Fights and trouble weren't exactly Kurt area of expertise, but Puck had some dealings with it. He'd have even more if he went to juvie. "They held me down and pierced my tongue the first night. Apparently they get off on a pretty face with a tongue ring."

Puck nodded jerkily at his words, his hand brushing over the left side of his chest subconsciously, protectively, as his eyes flashed. "How old were you?"

"Fourteen," Blaine grumbled, watching as another car passed by on the main road. "Wasn't hard for three guys twice my size to hold me down."

"Did they make you..." Puck trailed off, but Blaine turned to stare at him questioningly and was greeted with Puck poking the inside of his cheek with his tongue repeatedly. If he hadn't been feeling so odd and solemn, he would have either been incredibly amused.

"No, the one guy that tried ended up with a slashed face," Blaine said darkly. "I only suck dick when I want to."

"Like Hummel's," Puck blurted, his tone almost thoughtful, like he was actually contemplating Blaine's sex life with Kurt. It made Blaine snort and smile despite himself. If nothing else, Puck at least shared his lewd sense of humor.

"I do more than suck that," Blaine said vaguely. Another heavy silence filled the car, and Blaine clinked his tongue ring some more as the memories of that night when he was fourteen replayed in his mind. As terrified as he'd been he'd done his best not to show it, but that had only made him a bigger target than his looks had.

"Why do you still have it if that's why you got it, man?"

"To remind myself," Blaine told him before he'd even thought about whether or not he wanted to answer. "E- every time I want to do something really stupid, I feel it and I remember where I was and how I got it, " he paused and took a shaky breath. "I don't ever want to go back there. One day in there is enough time to convince you that everything out here is sunshine and rainbows."

Puck nodded again as they went back to staring out of the windshield. The sun had sunk behind the shopping center next to the bank already. The assholes at his apartment would be around in an hour at least, two at most. He'd have to head back now to make sure he missed them, but he couldn't seem to get his hand unstuck from his armpit to push the door open.

"I wanted to keep her, you know," Puck said suddenly. Even if Blaine had been moving to leave, he would have frozen at how hoarse, sad, and choked up Puck sounded. "It's like there's no place to move forward to without her here. When she was here I knew who I wanted to be, but now... "

Something in his brain clicked at Puck's words. It was something he'd only heard in passing, something he'd seen when Quinn and Santana had tried to rip each other apart in the hallway during the first week of school. The baby Quinn had had with Puck last year had to be the "she" Puck was talking about right now.

"Doesn't mean you have to ruin yourself," Blaine muttered awkwardly. "People are going to label us however they want, but maybe there are better things to be than a badass."

Puck laughed humorlessly at his words. "Like what? A super hero?"

Blaine shrugged and fiddled with the button for the window. "Dunno. Happy," he glanced down at the heavy weight of his ankle monitor. "Free, in... in love."

Puck turned to stare at him hard, and he swallowed. It felt strange to admit something like that out loud, especially to a guy he'd never said more than five words to until twenty minutes ago. But Puck was on his level in a way nobody else around here seemed to be, and while he'd never been to juvie and probably hadn't done anything as terrible as Blaine had, he still got how Blaine was. How he threw up his walls and did stupid things because he didn't know how else to act or how else to keep himself from hurting. Puck got what it was like to have to be tougher than you actually were all the time. At least Blaine thought he did.

"If you hurt my boy Hummel, you can say goodbye to whipping it out to piss," Puck threatened suddenly, bluntly. "I'll sack you so hard– "

"You'd end up with your balls in your throat if you even tried it," Blaine cut in sharply. He paused for a moment and then added more quietly, "I never want to hurt Kurt."

"You're... different with him," Puck said, though it sounded more like a question than a statement.

"No," Blaine clarified. "I'm myself with him."

"I was myself with Quinn, I think," Puck paused and then added in a tone that was both thoughtful and uncertain. "I'm also myself when I drill holes in the walls to the girls locker room, though."

"Drill one in the guys room next to Kurt's locker and I'd be right there with you," Blaine said, smirking slightly at the other boy's words. Puck was an alright dude. A little rough around the edges like himself, a little angry and misguided, but with a soft heart he tried to hide and protect.

Puck turned to him with a matching smirk. "I'll think about it, Anderson," he said.

Blaine popped the door open and swung his legs out of the car. "Later, Puck."

"Whatever, dude."

Blaine slammed the door shut as the car lurched away and back out onto the main road. That was without a doubt the strangest encounter he'd had since he'd ended up in Lima. Everyone else treated him how he'd expected to be treated. Well, everyone except Kurt's family, but who knew if that would even last. He glanced at the last few rays of sunlight peaking over the shopping center and decided to skip the ice cream tonight. If he was lucky he'd manage to make it home before his tormentors showed up.

The night went better than he'd expected it to. Nobody showed up and attempted to harass him through his front door or to bust it in, and while he didn't sleep as well as he did at Kurt's, it was still much more restful than any night there had been since the break- in.

Tuesday was a nice change of pace for Blaine as well. It was the first time in weeks that he was actually awake enough to pay attention in his lessons, and it was even better with Kurt by his side for almost the entire day. He knew the other kids were whispering about them, or maybe just about him and how much he was smiling and holding Kurt's hand in the halls and during their classes together, and how he hadn't had detention or done anything stupid in almost two weeks, but for now at least, he didn't care. This was the best he could ever remember feeling, and even if he'd tried, he didn't think he could have held in his grin whenever Kurt blushed just because he was holding his hand in the halls.

By the time they settled in at their lunch table, however, some of his bubbling happiness had worn off. The looks and whispers were still directed towards them in the oddly quiet cafeteria, and Blaine found his temper starting to flare up because of it. In the halls it had been in passing, something he'd barely even registered, but here he could see all the gazes directed towards them, all the looks and judging eyes. It wasn't even them as a couple that had attracted the attention, almost every set of eyes was flickering towards him.

"Ignore them," Kurt whispered next to him, his head held high and a proud gleam in his eyes. "If they can't understand that what we have – "

"Its not us they're talking about," Blaine snapped through gritted teeth. "It's me."

"So they noticed your haircut or something," Kurt said, looking confused at his tone and narrowed eyes, but his own tone told Blaine that Kurt understood exactly what he'd just said. He just didn't want to admit it. "Blaine, it doesn't matter – "

"It's not my damn haircut," Blaine hissed, and he hated himself for how angry he sounded. He picked up their laced hands and rested them on the table between their lunch trays. "It's this."

"But you just said– "

"I don't do things like this, remember?" Blaine told him sharply, his stomach lurching as the words came out, as he remembered how he'd been only a month ago. Until now he'd lured a guy in, fucked him raw once, sometimes a few times if he felt like it, and then he was done. "They think I've gone soft."

The hurt look that flashed across Kurt's face cut right through his heart like a hot knife. Fuck, he hadn't meant it to hurt Kurt, or to make it sound like he didn't love being with him. He trusted Kurt more than anyone, put all of his trust in Kurt because nobody else made sense to him or just allowed him to be himself.

"You... you don't want to be with me?" Kurt's voice was small and trembling, and it plunged the knife right back into Blaine's chest. The hand he'd been clutching for the majority of the day tried to pull free from his grip, but he held on tighter and slid an arm around Kurt's waist to stop him from standing up and running.

"Hey, no," Blaine mumbled, his voice strained and apologetic. "I didn't – fuck, you know I didn't mean it that way. Do you really think Sunday afternoon would have happened if I didn't want this?"

As an added measure of reassurance he brought their intertwined hands up to his lips and showered Kurt's knuckles with several light kisses. Kurt's smile was slightly shy at the gesture, and Blaine couldn't stop himself from smiling in return.

"Sorry," Kurt said softly. "I know you didn't mean it that way, this is all just so... new to me still. I keep thinking I'm going to wake up and realize you've just been a very vivid dream or something."

"It's new to me, too, you know," Blaine told him, bending forward to nibble on Kurt's jaw line. "And I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it at all. I just... if they start thinking that, they'll start asking questions or try to get close or whatever. The worse I am, the farther away people stay."

He felt Kurt nod jerkily at his words as he soothed his tongue over the soft skin he'd just been sucking at.

"B- Blaine, we can't do th- this here," Kurt stuttered, shifting on the bench, and unconsciously ending up moving closer to Blaine's warmth.

"Why not?" Blaine murmured, curling his tongue around the definition of Kurt's jaw line and letting his warm breath brush over the wet trail. "Have more pressing places to be, Hummel?"

"I need to f- figure out what s- s- song I'm singing for my d- duet," Kurt gasped breathless as he managed to force the words out, leaning into Blaine's touch as his earlobe was sucked into Blaine's mouth. Despite himself, Blaine pulled away a few inches. How the hell could someone sing a duet alone? Maybe he'd misunderstood.

Instead of asking the obvious he said, "Who are you singing with?"

Kurt's eyes closed briefly as he tried to steady himself from the contact. "Myself, of course," he said evenly as he opened his eyes and finished his last few bites of pasta. "Everyone else partnered off into their couples for the most part, and there's no way I'm singing with Puck."

His run- in with Puck yesterday afternoon flickered through his mind. "Puck's all right," he shrugged, and finished off his milk carton.

"Since when do you even remember who Puck is?" Kurt asked suspiciously.

"I do have a class with him, you know," Blaine said bluntly as the bell rang for the end of their lunch period. "Right now, actually."

They dumped their trays and Blaine followed Kurt down the hallway to his locker, wrapping his arms around the other boy's waist and resting his chin on his shoulder as Kurt traded out books.

"It's not right that you have to sing alone," Blaine told him sadly.

"Well, the only boy I want to sing with isn't in Glee Club," Kurt countered, sliding out his math book and tucking it into his bag.

Blaine shifted uncomfortably, even guiltily at his words. He'd tried out just to get closer to Kurt, to excite him with that song and make him want Blaine as much as he'd wanted Kurt. Even now, he didn't see the point in joining up. With his ankle monitor he couldn't very well help at competitions or anything, but the thought of Kurt singing alone didn't sit well with him either. Kurt deserved every ounce of happiness they could find in this miserable world.

Kurt's locker snapped shut and he tilted his head against Blaine's. "It's okay that you don't want to join Glee Club," he said. "Even if you are really good."

Blaine resisted the urge to squirm at his words. Even though he knew Kurt wasn't trying to make him feel guilty, he still did. For a long moment he stared at the air vents of Kurt's locker and then spoke.

"So if you don't have to figure anything out with a singing partner you should skip on Glee this afternoon," Blaine suggested, sliding his hands around to Kurt's hips and pressing his fingers into his flesh possessively. "You could come over to my place and work on your... high notes."

He felt the heat of Kurt's blush where their cheeks were touching and chuckled a little. "Nice to know I can still make you blush."

"Only because you say the most ridiculous things," Kurt remarked as the warning bell rang. "I'll leave Glee early as a compromise."

"Hmm, you'll be nice and loosened up from practice then," Blaine said slyly, pressing a fleeting kiss to Kurt's cheek. "See you in a few hours."

He stepped away from the heat of Kurt's body, catching a glimpse of his flushed face and the way his chest was heaving as he turned back down the hall and headed for the gymnasium. The final bell rang out just as he shuffled into the locker room.

As Blaine headed to his locker Puck nodded at him. He had to catch himself from glaring and flicking the other boy off as he remembered yesterday. Him and Puck were... he wasn't entirely sure what they were. Friends definitely wasn't the word he would use. They understood each other, kindred spirits or some bullshit like that, but not friends. Finn gave him his usual dopey smile from the opposite row of lockers, and Blaine nodded in acknowledgement. This was all incredibly bizarre and weird. Friends were as much of a foreign concept to him as a boyfriend had been two months ago.

The rest of the class was just as odd for him. Puck and Finn joined him at his bench press and it was horribly distracting to actually have someone spotting for him and to not be alone with his thoughts. The other Glee boys keep shooting them looks, and as much as he tried to glare at them or see the looks as something aggressive there was really no way to do it when that Asian guy kept dancing around stupidly and acting like a mime.

He couldn't bring himself to be nice and smile or anything either, because none of them had asked to sing with Kurt. Perhaps none of them even wanted to sing with Kurt. It wasn't fair to Kurt that he was left alone in a duet competition, and as much as he hated the thought of joining up and getting close to anyone else he knew there was nobody else Kurt would choose to sing with but himself.

Back in the locker room, as the afternoon announcements echoed between the rows of lockers, Blaine made a quick decision. As the other boys rushed for the halls at the bell, Blaine circled around and cornered Puck, who usually lagged behind.

"What's up with this duet competition, Puck?"

Puck rolled his eyes immediately. "Another horrible idea of Schuester's to get us motivated. I'm not doing it," he informed Blaine. "I don't think your boy wants to sing with me anyway."

"I don't think you two could even manage to agree on a song," Blaine said in acknowledgement. He folded his arms and leaned against the locker. God, he hated asking people questions like these. Hated feeling like he was putting himself out there, hated letting other people know that he cared about anything or anyone but himself. "When's Kurt singing?"

Puck stared at him in bewilderment. "How's he doing a duet by himself?"

"When?" Blaine demanded, and Puck glared at his authoritative tone.

"Probably Thursday," Puck shrugged carelessly as he shouldered his bag. "Why?"

He could definitely arrange something by Thursday. Something simple, but that he was certain Kurt would know. Kurt wouldn't even realize anything was up until he went to Glee with him and Blaine dragged him to the front...

"You've got a scheming look going on," Puck said uncertainly, eyeing him suspiciously. "You're about to go all hopeless romantic on me, aren't you? I never pegged you as the type."

"You never pegged me at all," Blaine retorted sharply. He stared at Puck's curious expression for a few seconds before he stepped away and headed towards the door. "See you Thursday."

"That's it?" Puck bellowed after him. "Don't I at least get a hint? I thought we were bros now, dude!"

Chuckling at the annoyed voice still echoing after him from the locker room, Blaine left for the parking lot. Blaine spent the rest of his afternoon tangled up with Kurt in his bed back at his apartment. After a few hours they finally made their way over to Kurt's house, and Blaine took the time while Kurt was in the shower to sneak a peek at Kurt's iPod and pick a song. Wednesday followed a similar pattern, with Blaine spending lunch in the choir room under the pretence of lunch detention, while he was instead figuring out the piano chords and then finalizing things that night after they left his place and went to Kurt's.

When he woke up in Kurt's living room on Thursday morning it felt like he'd swallowed a bag of bouncy balls. Despite the fact that Carole and Burt, and even Finn, had seen him play and sing softly to himself last night and Tuesday, they luckily hadn't mentioned it. He had the sneaking suspicion that Finn had figured out what he was up to, probably with help from Puck, and he had made sure the adults stayed tight- lipped about it.

If Kurt noticed how jittery he was, he didn't comment on it throughout the day. There were a lot more soft touches and glances than they typically exchanged, but nothing beyond that. As the bell ending their lunch period rang they shuffled off towards Kurt's locker before parting.

"I'll see you in Glee," Blaine said nervously, and, god, he hoped he didn't sound as nervous and transparent as he thought he did. Kurt totally saw what he was planning, didn't he? He was so on to his surprise that it was amazing he hadn't tried to stop him from doing it already.

But Kurt's eyebrows knitted together in obvious confusion at his statement. "You're coming to Glee Club today?" There was both hope and uncertainty hidden in his words and Blaine shrugged a little, feeling ridiculously bashful. God, how the hell was he ever going to sing this song with Kurt in front of everyone?

He let his facade slip into place a little bit and murmured against Kurt's cheek, "Of course, babe. I'd never miss a chance to watch you attempt vocal masturbation."

"Oh my god. Have you been talking to Santana, too?"

"What do you mean 'too'?"

"Finn said you seemed cool with Puck now," Kurt said slowly. "Hell, you said he was 'all right'."

The warning bell rang as Kurt closed his locker. His eyes were oddly bright in a way Blaine was entirely unfamiliar with. "I'll see you after class," he said happily, and really, Blaine swore he was almost gushing. It make his whole body tingle, because he'd done that. He'd made Kurt happy. In another two hours he might make Kurt the happiest he'd ever been.

His last class dragged by at a torturously slow pace. Once again Finn and Puck worked out with him, but this time the rest of the Glee guys joined in at the bench next to them. As much as he wanted to sneer and be a bastard, it was a great distraction from how nervous he was feeling. By the end of the hour he'd almost mastered their names and had had to force down his laughter at Sam's James Earl Jones impression. He shouldn't want to laugh with them or even remember their names, yet he'd done it without even thinking about it. He was getting entirely to comfortable now, and the thought that he was letting his guard down, letting people in, still scared him. But then he thought of Kurt and how much he'd struggled to let him in, and how glad he was that he finally had.

He lingered behind again and ended up walking with Puck towards the choir room.

"God, you're so damn nervous I feel like I'm going to drown in your sweat, dude," Puck said flatly, shoving his shoulder in an attempt to lighten the mood. Or make him smile or punch him or something. Hell, if Blaine knew how these types of interactions worked. Kurt was already waiting in the choir room with Mercedes and Rachel, who both squealed at the sight of him.

"Hello, Blaine," Rachel said immediately and Blaine took a step back in alarm as she continued what seemed to be a prepared welcome speech. "It's so good to have another voice to sing back up for me. Just so you know, I've got two gay dads so I am totally okay with you and Kurt. Now, I've already got our sectional songs selected which all feature me heavily on lead v– "

"God, you're like a wind up doll on an endless loop," Blaine cut in, curling his lips slightly as he stared down at her.

"Blaine," Kurt warned half- heartedly as he tugged Blaine down into the seat next to him. As Blaine glanced around uncomfortably he noticed that everyone was watching him and Kurt. But it was in a different way than how the rest of the school looked at them. It was almost fond, even excited and thrilled, and it made him even more uneasy than the judgmental looks. At least he understood why they got those, even if he didn't like them. But people looking happy that he and another boy were sitting in a choir room holding hands was something brand new to him.

Before he had time to over-think or pull away and leave or do something stupid that he'd end up regretting, Mr. Schuester strolled in.

"All right, guys! Who's up first today?"

Blaine felt Kurt's hand start to slip out of his and he clutched it tighter as he took a steadying breath. It was now or never. If he didn't speak up now he'd never have the courage to bare his heart and soul like this ever again.

Ignoring the odd look Kurt gave him as he held the other boy's hand in place he said, "Kurt and me are going."

Mr. Schuester visibly blanked at his voice, and looked shocked at his presence in his choir room after weeks of never coming back. "Blaine, welcome back!" he turned to Kurt and eyed him in surprise, letting his gaze rest on their linked hands for a moment before he spoke. "As long as the song's more appropriate this time, then go ahead, guys."

He felt Kurt shrug helplessly next to him as an answer to Mr. Schuester's hidden question as he pulled Kurt to his feet.

"Blaine, what are you doing?" Kurt whispered urgently. "I'm singing by myself. We haven't prepared anything at all – "

"You know it," Blaine told him reassuringly as Kurt continued to fret under his breath. He stepped closer to Kurt and took him by the elbows, very aware of the dozen pairs of eyes watching their every move. God, it was unnerving. It was like he was being dissected alive in front of an audience on national television. And he was almost positive they could all see how he felt about the boy in front of him, and the thought was terrifying in a way that made him want to clam up and never trust another person ever again. But then Kurt's gaze settled on him, full of trust and wonder and a calm happiness that made him certain of only one thing. He would do anything to make Kurt as happy as he deserved to be, no matter how awkward and scary it was for himself.

"Over here," Blaine said, directing him to the piano and settling down on the bench behind it. Slowly, Kurt dropped down next to him and watched him poise his fingers over the ivory keys. "This is for all the– the things I haven't known how to say without ending up being an asshole or sounding like a babbling idiot."

"Blaine, " Kurt said in anguish. "You aren't– "

"Sing with me?" he asked simply, almost shyly and, fuck, he hated that feeling even worse. The way his stomach swooped at how nervous and bashful and exposed this made him feel. He almost felt like he was pleading with Kurt, and the thought that maybe he'd been wrong, that maybe Kurt didn't want to sing with him–

"Okay," Kurt said softly, sliding an arm around his waist and sliding closer on the bench. "You better hope I know this song as well as you think I do."

A smile tugged at his lips before he could stop it and he dropped his fingers to the keys and started the piano introduction. Kurt breathed in sharply after the first measure, and he risked a glance over at him to see his eyes shining brightly and welling up with tears. Kurt mouthed his name, and just stared at him adoringly as he began to sing. As long as Kurt was looking at him like that it didn't matter if anyone else was in the room or even smacking him upside the head. Everything outside of the beautiful boy in front of him turned into a blurred haze as he focused in on the only thing he considered important.

"You've been on my mind

I grow fonder every day,

Lose myself in time

Just thinking of your face

God only knows

Why it's taken me so long

To let my doubts go

You're the only one that I want"

He turned his head to look at Kurt, and his heart started battering against his ribcage at the radiant smile Kurt was directing at him. For once he'd done something right, and not only with his song choice. He'd picked Kurt to share himself with, and the other man was more than he'd ever been able to imagine.

"I don't know why I'm scared cause I've been here before"

Kurt's finger pressed against his lips quickly as he took over singing, and Blaine was so grateful for it. His voice had started cracking with the emotions that were swirling through him at the love and affection Kurt's eyes held for him.

"Every feeling, every word, I've imagined it all

You'll never know, if you never try

to forgive your past, and simply be mine"

Blaine quickly released the notes for the rest, and tried to re- gain control of his voice to join Kurt for the chorus. It wasn't easy when he was being looked at like that and getting choked up and feeling like he'd been dumped into a sea of emotions that he'd been fighting at and trying to understand and control and forget for ages. He'd let Kurt into his heart, had even let Kurt know the truth, but letting the rest of the world see it, letting himself be the boy Kurt saw with everyone else was almost too overwhelming after these past few weeks together.

"I dare you to me be your, your one and only

Promise I'm worthy to hold in your arms

So come on and give me the chance

To prove that I'm the one who can

Walk that mile until the end starts"

Kurt's voice had faded out before the last line and Blaine took a shaky breath as Kurt took the second verse, a hand cupping his cheek so that Blaine couldn't look away from Kurt's gaze even if he'd wanted to. With Kurt staring right into his eyes and singing right at him he could barely focus on what his hands were doing and he was almost positive that he missed some notes or hit the wrong chords a few times, but he couldn't bring himself to care. After another steady breath he took the second half.

"Will I ever know how it feels to hold you close?

And have you tell me whichever road I choose you'll go"

Kurt took over again, twirling a finger around one of his curls as he sang and he grinned at him, feeling a blush rise to his cheeks at how good it felt to feel this free, this open and alive in a way he'd sworn to never let himself be again. Blaine let his eyes drift shut as he sang the chorus again with Kurt, finally getting to the one section he'd been uncertain about. There were two parts but he honestly had no way of knowing which Kurt would choose to sing, or even which part he wanted to sing.

Kurt's forehead brushed against his and before he could decide to start singing the first part, Kurt's soft, beautiful voice trickled into his ears and wrapped around him.

"I know it ain't easy giving up your heart"

His chest constricted at the force behind those words, the understanding that he'd been hoping Kurt would pick up from it. He echoed after Kurt, following his lead as he let his eyes flicker open so that his vision was filled with sparkling blue eyes.

"Nobody's perfect, trust me I've learned it"

Blaine was lost in the piano melody and the way their voices mixed and bled together from that moment until Kurt's hands captured his over the keys and made him still and stop playing. Kurt leaned into him and brushed their lips together slowly, pulling back enough to whisper words he'd never realized he needed to hear until they'd been said.

"You're the greatest thing that's ever happened to me, Blaine," Kurt murmured for only him to hear. The words stirred something in his brain, like perhaps his mother or father had said it at some point before they'd fallen apart, but it was lost to the years he'd spent without them. Kurt leaned back in to kiss him more firmly, and Blaine returned it eagerly, letting his tongue trace over Kurt's lips for a moment and someone wolf whistled behind them.

"Get it, Anderson!" Puck whooped loudly, flashing them a thumbs up as they broke apart.

Blaine glanced around at the rest of the club, taking in the misty eyed girls, Tina sobbing into Mike's shoulder, and the boys all looking both impressed and understanding. It was a weird feeling for him, seeing all of these people who looked like they wanted him around, like they didn't think he was some troublesome, idiotic kid who fucked around and did stupid shit just because he could. The thought of making friends hadn't crossed his mind in years, but he'd never thought he'd want a boyfriend either. He smiled at Kurt as they stood up and returned to their seats. Maybe this Glee Club thing wasn't a bad idea after all. Maybe it was finally safe to let himself enjoy life again.

Even when Kurt woke up in his bed on Friday morning he still felt like he was soaring. An untamable smile pealed back his lips from the moment he woke up and remembered Glee Club from the day before until he headed into his bathroom to get ready for school. The first thing he noticed, and it only made him smile wider, was Blaine's toothbrush, razor, and shaving gel set up on the counter next to his moisturizing bottles.

Little pieces of Blaine's life had slowly been accumulating in their house since the previous weekend, especially now that him and Blaine were coming back here for dinner every night. There was an extra, fluffy blue towel hung on the back of his bathroom door, a smaller hand towel draped over the edge of the sink, an Italian textbook and Calculus textbook both left on his desk from Wednesday night, and a collection of dirty clothes in his hamper that most definitely weren't his.

There were moments when Blaine was still the boy he'd first meant, including last night at dinner when Burt had mentioned taking down the extra mattress in the attic and setting it up in his office this coming weekend. As soon as the word "coming" had left Burt's mouth, Blaine had latched onto it and started in on a lewd tangent about charging entry to the room that would be his "bang house", insisting that he'd give Kurt a discount rate on a monthly pass. Kurt had blushed furiously at the comment, more so because of what they'd just been doing at Blaine's apartment the hour before, than the implications of future happenings.

His father had glared at Blaine and reprimanded him, and Blaine had snapped right back with his usual hostile sass. For a moment Kurt had worried that his father had gone too far too soon with scolding and punishments, but as soon as Blaine had finished, he looked guilty about his words. A quickly mumbled apology followed, and while Burt still looked slightly perturbed, he let it go.

After almost an hour in the bathroom, Kurt put the finishing touches on his hair and headed upstairs to wake Blaine up. It was shocking to him how easily Blaine had fallen into his morning routines, and how, for the most part, Blaine was slowly acclimating himself to his family. It wasn't a perfect fit by any means, especially with how last night had gone (and the many more nights like it that Kurt kept imagining), but everyone was trying to make this work, and Kurt was certain it would, given enough time and patience.

Blaine was stretched out on the couch and drooling slightly when he entered the living room. Carole greeted him in passing, kissing him on the cheek and telling him that breakfast was done and that she'd see him tonight before she headed out to work. From inside the kitchen Kurt could hear his father and Finn's muffled voices as he woke Blaine up with his customary kiss and nuzzle. It took him a good ten minutes to get Blaine awake and head down to his bathroom to get ready before he settled into eating breakfast with Finn and his father.

The usual shuffle to eat and make sure they had all their books and assignments wasn't quite as hazardous as it had been the past few mornings now that Blaine was starting to fall into the mix. He let Finn drive them to Rachel's to pick her up and then school so that he could sit in the back-seat with Blaine. With Rachel in the car Blaine was very stiff in his embrace, but Kurt figured that had more to do with her constant babbling about their duet yesterday than the fact that Kurt had his arm around him.

"– and your voices blend beautifully together– "

"Our come blends quite nicely, too," Blaine told her bluntly as they pulled into the student parking lot. "Sometimes we even take little paintbrushes and paint patterns on the sheets."

Rachel turned to gap at Blaine, who jumped out of the car the moment Finn pulled into a parking space. Kurt followed after him quickly, finally catching up in the stairwell.

That was a lie," Kurt said as he linked his arm through Blaine's. "There's a dozen condoms in your trash can and clean sheets on your bed as evidence."

"And enough that dries on your stomach every afternoon," Blaine countered with a smirk, eyes flickering down to Kurt's waistline.

"As I recall, most of that mess has been your doing," Kurt said pointedly, letting his own gaze shift down Blaine's body. A cocky smile greeted his stare, and Blaine pressed his body closer until Kurt found himself pinned against the wall behind the staircase.

"It wasn't last night," Blaine purred, nipping roughly at his earlobe and rubbing his hands over Kurt's hips. "I fucked you breathless for hours yesterday."

Kurt shuddered slightly at the memory as Blaine shifted closer and started sucking on his neck. He glanced around briefly to see that the stairwell was empty and then let out the moan lodged in his throat. Of course he remembered that. There was nothing that could ever make him forget anything they'd done together, especially during the last week. With another moan, Kurt rocked his hips back against Blaine's, only to be pressed more firmly against the concrete wall. Blaine's fingers brushed over his hardening cock for a moment and then with a soft, lingering kiss Blaine backed away, his eyes dark and fiery, but alight with some teasing promise Kurt couldn't wait to be kept.

"Save that," Blaine said when Kurt jerked his hips forward against Blaine's palm again, "for later when I'm holding you down and fucking myself on you."

"Blaine, you tease," Kurt growled as Blaine took a few steps back and smiled wolfishly at him.

"Consider it sufficient revenge for the weeks of torture I suffered while you insisted on remaining a little virgin queen," Blaine retorted. "You only have to wait until two."

"No, I've got to make up that French quiz I missed when we left early last week," Kurt told him angrily, huffing in annoyance as Blaine set off down the hallway towards his locker. Kurt followed after him, stopping to watch Blaine pick the lock on it for a moment as he waited for a reply.

"Well there's two options for that," Blaine said thoughtfully, and the seductive twinkle in his eyes made Kurt's stomach swoop as heat started pooling in it again. "I could come encourage you," Blaine said in a low voice. "I bet you'd love having me suck you off under your desk..."

"Not with a teacher in the room," Kurt scolded, even though another shot of arousal had pulsed through him at Blaine's words.

"Or," Blaine continued as though Kurt hadn't interrupted. "I'll just have to spend an hour by myself getting ready to ride your dick. Stretching myself out so that the moment you get there I can push you down onto the bed and fuck you."

Kurt was almost positive his heart had burst straight through his ribcage at his boyfriend's words. There were probably little pieces of it fluttering through the air all around him, but he couldn't get his gaze to stray from Blaine's lustful eyes.

Blaine gave him a mocking, thoughtful look as he closed his locker. "As much as I like putting on a show, I think I'm going to go with the second option," Blaine decided, shooting him a shameless grin. "As much as I love getting to taste you, I love it a lot more when you come in my ass."

Completely flustered and hard now, Kurt could only stare after Blaine as the other boy headed towards their first period class. It'd been a while since he'd seen this side of Blaine, everything around them had been so raw and new for Blaine since the break- in, but it was clear to Kurt that Blaine was definitely starting to get comfortable with the situation. God, he suddenly remembered why he used to hate Blaine. And it had everything to do with how much his cock was aching to be inside Blaine's body right now.

The rest of his day was a terrible blur. English consisted of Blaine's hands randomly reaching out and brushing along his back, or lightly walking his fingers up Kurt's spine until Kurt was shivering and biting his lip to hold back his panting moans. Fortunately he had two classes without Blaine after that to give himself some cool down time, but while Blaine was no longer present, his own mind seemed to have turned against him. By the time he settled down in Chemistry for their test that afternoon he was half- hard again and unable to keep his eyes from darting to where Blaine was reclining in his desk chair and doing obscene things that involved his pen and his mouth.

At the end of class he was almost positive he'd failed the exam and he didn't even have a chance to corner Blaine and drag him off somewhere for anything since the other boy darted from the room and disappeared. Heart thumping wildly, Kurt raced downstairs to his French class and impatiently waited for his teacher to arrive. God, if he had to wait even longer to have Blaine pressing him down into the mattress because she was too busy walking slowly in the hallways or whatever, he was going to scream. And not the kind of screaming he wanted to be doing right now.

Madame Bellemont finally arrived at half past two, their agreed upon meeting time, but Kurt was still furious at her for being prompt. He rushed through the quiz, grateful that this subject at least he could breeze through and pass without much thought or studying. The oral part of the quiz, however, took a lot longer, because while he rattled on in French like a Frenchman straight from Paris, or so he thought, Madame Bellemont couldn't keep up with how fast he was talking. After he repeated his answers a dozen times, he was free to go and he rushed off to Blaine's, parking haphazardly and flat out running over to Blaine's door and using his key to unlock it.

As Kurt flung the door open he was glad he caught the edge of it and slammed it closed as he stepped into the room, because Blaine was pressed against him instantly, slamming him backwards against the closed door and moaning in longing.

"God, could have taken any longer?" Blaine demanded, his panting breaths brushing over Kurt's throat as he started violently tugging at Kurt's sweater. At this point Kurt didn't even care if the damn thing ripped, he just wanted to feel Blaine's skin against his, to feel the heat of Blaine's body pressing him down into the mattress. That was one thing Kurt had learned in the past week, whether it meant that Blaine was fucking him so hard that he had to press his hands against the wall to stop his head from hitting it as he slid up the bed, or if Blaine's firm ass was slapping down against the top of his thighs, he loved have the warm weight of Blaine's body on top of him.

"I'm been hard all day thanks to you, consider it revenge," Kurt managed to gasp out as Blaine tugged him towards the bed. And that's when he realized that Blaine was already naked and hard. "Fuck, Blaine."

Blaine pushed him down onto the bed, yanking his boots and belt off him as Kurt fumbled with his sweater and shirt and tossed them across the room. "Very funny, Hummel," Blaine bit back, finishing the last word with a sharp nip on Kurt's collarbone. "You better still be hard for me."

As Blaine's hands unbuttoned his jeans and started shoving them down, Kurt tugged Blaine down on top of him and slammed their mouths together. "Only for you," he whispered against Blaine's lips, lifting his hips to help Blaine free his erection and legs. Blaine pulled away to follow his jeans and underwear down his legs and Kurt whimpered brokenly as they were tossed across the room and Blaine settled down in his lap. He thrust his hips up against Blaine, who bent his torso and shoved him hard down into the mattress.

Kurt tangled his hands into Blaine's curls as their mouths connected again, teeth clanking and short, panting breaths brushing over each other's lips. He heard the familiar sound of a condom package being ripped open and then Blaine's mouth pulled away again and he cried out in frustration. At least until Blaine's hand was sliding the condom down his cock and stroking him slowly. Kurt propped himself up on his elbows and watched Blaine fist his cock for a few moments, slowly thrusting his hips up into the tight grip. Blaine fumbled for the bottle of lube Kurt hadn't even noticed on the bed and dripped some onto the tip of Kurt's cock, his fingers stroking over him and spreading it down his length.

Blaine straddled his hips again, sucking softly at a spot along his sternum. "I'm already ready for you, baby," Blaine murmured, dragging his tongue up Kurt's chest and scraping his teeth over Kurt's collarbone.

With a loud groan, Kurt grabbed Blaine by the hips and helped him rise up enough to align himself with the blunt tip of Kurt's cock. Blaine moaned above him, his head thrown back and eyes closed as he sunk down onto Kurt's cock. Kurt's hips bucked as soon as he felt the tight clench of Blaine's muscles around him and he felt himself slid completely into Blaine.

"Lie back," Blaine commanded slowly, and Kurt let his elbows slip out from under him as Blaine's hands grabbed his shoulders and held him down. He let his hands settle on Blaine's hips, feeling Blaine shift slightly as he adjusted to the stretch. Blaine slowly lifted himself up, pressing his knees into the bed and using his hands on Kurt's shoulder to balance himself as he slammed his hips back down.

Kurt moaned loudly as Blaine started up a fast, hard pace, digging his fingers into Blaine's ass and making his hips roll just slightly every time he sunk back down. Blaine curled himself over Kurt's body, gyrating his hips faster until the wet sounds of their flesh slapping together echoed around the room.

"Fuck, Kurt," Blaine grunted, tangling one of his hands into Kurt's hair as he pressed his face against Kurt's neck. "I'm so close already."

God, Kurt loved everything about this. Loved the feeling of Blaine around him and above him and against his sweaty body as they moved together. Nothing compared to how incredible he felt when Blaine started to curl his upper body over him, and the movement of his hips started to become jerky and sporadic. His entire body pulsed and trembled whenever Blaine tangled one hand into his hair and slid the other under his back, his panting, desperate breaths cooling the sweat beading on Kurt's neck. He loved this feeling of Blaine letting go and losing himself as he pushed himself closer to the edge, as Blaine lost control of his pace and movements and Kurt started to thrust up into Blaine's heat, sliding a hand between them to stroke Blaine's cock.

Blaine shouted against his skin, rolling his hips backwards as Kurt bucked beneath him. "Harder, Kurt," he panted against Kurt's neck. "Please, harder."

And even though his stomach was coiling tightly and his balls were tightening up as he started to come, Kurt obeyed. He smacked his hips up hard, feeling his balls slap against Blaine's ass and then he was coming, shouting loudly as Blaine clenched up around his cock and bit down on his shoulder.

The warm, heat of Blaine's come dribbled over his fist and onto his stomach as Blaine collapsed on top of him. And as much as he loved having sex with Blaine, these moments right after while they were both still winded and panting as their pleasure hummed through their bodies were blissfully breathtaking.

Kurt loved the intimacy of these first few moments after – the soft brush of Blaine's nose against his throat, the gentle humming murmur of Blaine's voice. He'd never been more calm, or at home, or loved than he was then. It was right. It was so easy and natural the way their love settled strong and unwavering in his chest. The same way Blaine's body relaxed into his embrace.

These were the moments when he saw and felt Blaine at his simplest. The way nobody else had ever seen or felt him – the man even Blaine couldn't yet fathom himself to be.

Even when the sweat and come started to dry between their chests, he couldn't bear to pull away because he knew to cherish how tightly their love gripped his chest and pulsed through him . That regardless of how dirty Blaine talked or how hard he fucked him that those moments after were real in a way that nothing else in his life had ever been. There would never be another experience in his life as personal, intimate or powerful as what him and Blaine shared together.

Blaine slowly rolled off his chest and onto his back, his eyes closed as he breathed in deeply. Kurt turned to watch him for a moment, smiling at the way his long eyelashes fluttered and the corner of his mouth crooked up in a little smile. He rolled onto his side and pressed a gentle kiss to Blaine's shoulder, feeling Blaine's arms pull him closer.

He sighed and nuzzled his cheek against Blaine's chest, feeling the little, dark hairs brush again him. "You're getting so hairy," Kurt told him quietly, and Blaine pushed himself onto his elbows and glared at him. Kurt grinned and laughed at how offended he looked. "I think it's nice," he assured Blaine, who still glared at him.

"I'm going to turn into one of those fur rugs people put in front of their fireplaces," Blaine said forlornly.

"At least you'll finally have a job then?"

"Shut up," Blaine growled, and he suddenly sprung into action, rolling over and pinning Kurt beneath him, his fingers wiggling against Kurt's ribs. Kurt gasped and tried to pull away as the howl of laughter forming in his chest exploded out of his mouth.

"B- B- Blaine, stop!" he gasped out between shouts of laughter. He tried to wrestle free for a few moments, but Blaine's body had sufficiently pinned him down. Maybe next year he'd take that weight lifting class, too. Then Blaine wouldn't be so much stronger than himself even though Kurt was bigger.

Blaine's fingers paused, and he bent his head and sucked softly on his lower lip. "What will you give me if I stop?" he asked sultrily.

When Kurt took too long to answer Blaine started tickling him again, and he was laughing and trying to roll away until something hard and cold brushed against his calf. He hissed loudly at the cold metal of Blaine's ankle monitor even though he tried not to, but the damage was done. Blaine had frozen above him, his hands gripping Kurt's sides as he pushed himself up and turned around to sit facing away from Kurt.

It wasn't the first time this had happened over the course of this past week. Usually Blaine apologized and sunk down into his arms and refused to answer any of his questions or talk about it or do anything that didn't involve them being physical with each other.

Kurt sat up slowly and scooted in behind Blaine, watching the other boy pluck at a loose thread on one of the blankets. He knew Blaine was avoiding this subject, and would probably continue to do so for a while. Blaine's past was the last real barrier between them now, the last thing that kept him closed off and safe within himself.

"I know you want to tell me, even if you don't know how to yet," Kurt said after a moment, instead of the same question he'd asked every afternoon for the past three days. He dropped his chin onto Blaine's shoulder, and wrapped the other boy up in his arms. Blaine's shoulder blades relaxed against his chest as he leaned back into his embrace.

"I... I want to share myself with you, all of myself. It's just hard to... to talk about it."

"You don't have to, Blaine," Kurt said quickly. He almost wished he hadn't brought up the ankle monitor or everything he didn't know about Blaine, but he couldn't stop himself from wondering, from hoping that once he knew he could at least try to understand and be there for Blaine. "I won't push you, no matter how much I want to know. Besides," he added with a flirty smile, "the mystery around you is part of the attraction."

Blaine relaxed against his chest some more and laughed softly. "Sometimes," Blaine murmured in his ear, "I think it's impossible to be as in love as I am with you."

Kurt's heart jolted in his chest at Blaine's words. "Talk to me when you're ready," he whispered in return. "I'll wait."

I wasn't ready for anything until I met you, I think," Blaine replied softly. He tilted his head to the side and brushed his nose against Kurt's. "I'm still not sure I am, but... I trust you. I trust you completely."

Something heavy and warm seemed to drop into his stomach at Blaine's words, and while he'd been thrilled when Blaine had admitted to caring about him and then loving him, this was something so much more important to him. As far as he knew, Blaine had trusted nobody since his mother had died, had had nobody worth trusting since the age of six. It was big step for Blaine, and Kurt was just glad he was the one Blaine was taking it with.

Blaine sat up a little straight in his arms and took a deep, steadying breath, clasping Kurt's hands where they were resting around Blaine's waist.

"She killed herself, you know," Blaine began softly and Kurt's heart turned to ice in his chest. "A... a lot of shit happened that year and she got really depressed. The meds they gave her weren't the right amount and they drove her nuts." Kurt swallowed thickly, feeling the pressure already starting to build behind his eyes at the thought. He tightened his arms around Blaine's body as Blaine continued to talk quietly. "My grandfather sued the piss out of the pharmacy. They were out of business, like, six months later or something. I dunno."

When Blaine didn't speak for a few moments Kurt kissed him softly on the cheek. "I'm so sorry, Blaine," Kurt said sadly. "I– "

"I found her," Blaine cut him off, the words tumbling out of him in a rush. "All covered in blood and cold. He was supposed to be home. He should have been there to stop her, and then all he did was drink after. I spent the summer with my grandparents so he could get his shit straight and instead of him doing that he knocked some stupid woman up and sent her to pick me up after he married her."

Kurt flinched slightly at how angry Blaine sounded all of a sudden, how fierce his voice was and how tense he was becoming in his arms. Even without asking he knew who Blaine was talking about. There was really only one person who made sense to fill that spot: Blaine's father.

"Your grandparents had to have known he was still... that he wasn't stable," Kurt put in, but he knew the thought was just wishful thinking. If they'd known they obviously hadn't cared.

"They talked to her more than him once she came around," Blaine spat bitterly. "And obviously if he was getting remarried to a nice, put together young woman it'd be fine for me to return. So she came to pick me up even though I had no idea who she was."

Kurt shivered at the image Blaine's words created in his mind, trying to imagine some new lady coming into his father's life after his mother had died. But the only woman he could picture was Carole, and he adored her. He'd known her before she'd even met Burt. There was no way he could picture his six year old self being left with either of his grandparents and then his father or them allowing some strange lady to pick him up.

"He was never there when he needed to be," Blaine spat angrily. "I hated him for years. And then the assholes at my middle school started trying to beat the shit out of me all the time because everyone there knew my father was just a stupid drunk and that she was dead and that I was gay," Blaine twisted in his arms, pulling away and running a hand through his dark curls. "I took another boy to our school dance that year, and they beat me so badly I was in the hospital for a week."

Blaine turned back to him, raising his arm to reveal the scar along his ribs that he'd never mentioned before. The one Kurt had spent countless hours wondering about, but had never brought up because he feared Blaine's reaction. "Metal pipe to the chest eight times. Broke two of my ribs so badly they punctured my lung."

Kurt trembled as the horror of the situation consumed his mind. He'd been tossed in dumpsters and had his head shoved into a toilet, even had half a dozen slushies tossed in his face one day, but nobody had ever hit him. They'd all been too afraid to leave any damaging physical evidence of their violence. Blaine lowered his arm back to his side and turned away again. Hot tears were forming in Kurt's eyes and he couldn't even imagine how Blaine was getting through this story without hitting something or sobbing himself hoarse. He didn't understand how it was possible for Blaine to be able to just spit all of this out without breaking down on him.

"Once I got better, I let them have it," Blaine said quietly, his eyes fixed on the blanket covering his lap. "One of their dads was some big fancy lawyer like my grandfather so he got them off from the charges. I was just..." Blaine dug his hands into his hair, fingers scraping over his scalp as Kurt tried to ease him back into his arms, but Blaine yanked himself away from his grasp. "I was so fucking done. Nobody cared. Nobody even stopped to listen unless I punched some kid in my class or started fires in the trash cans in the bathrooms or stole things. I got them to chase me into the new construction site near the school and..." Blaine's voice faded away and he slouched down slightly.

Kurt's heart was thumping wildly in his throat, a few tears still glistening in his eyes as he finally found the courage to slide forward and pull Blaine back into his arms. Blaine put up a slight struggle to the embrace, but relented after a few moments. He knew what Blaine was about to tell him – the assault and battery charge that he'd mentioned so long ago as a reason for his stint in juvie – but that didn't make it any easier to imagine. Nothing of what Blaine had just told him was easy to swallow and accept, but this was Blaine's life. And had been his life for years. But he wasn't going to be alone in this anymore. Not with Kurt there.

Blaine cringed as Kurt held him tighter, but Kurt refused to let him go. "Shhh," Kurt murmured softly. "I love you. Nothing you say right now is going to change that, Blaine."

"I... I took a two by four from one of the stacks and broke the first one's legs," Blaine said hollowly, almost as though just saying the words was transporting him back to that afternoon three years ago. "Broke the second one's nose and arm, and bruised his balls. T- the third guy, um..." Blaine paused for so long Kurt almost thought he wasn't going to continue talking at all, but then Blaine shook his head slightly, and the anger returned to his voice. "He's the one who beat the shit out of me that night. The other two just held my arms against the wall. I just kept hitting him," Blaine admitted, his body shaking against Kurt's chest as the words spilled from his lips. "Anywhere, everywhere I could reach and when I realized he wasn't moving I ran for it. They came and took me away the next morning," Blaine finished. "There was a trial for it and all, but without my grandfather to plead my case... "

"Why– why wasn't he there?" Kurt asked before he could stop himself. Even to his own ears it sounded more like a demand. He knew Blaine's grandfather had turned on him this past summer when he'd found out he was gay, but that meant he wouldn't have known when this had happened. Yet he'd done nothing to help his grandson. Anger bubbled up in his chest at the thought of Cameron Anderson. He'd already had enough of a reason to hate the man for what he'd done, but this...

"My father and him had a falling out a few years before that," Blaine said with a careless shrug. "He wasn't part of my life again until he gained custody. He wouldn't have cared anyway. I'd have had to tell him I was gay for him to stand any chance of getting the charges dropped, and he would have dropped me without a second thought as soon as he knew."

Furious at Blaine's words, at how sure he sounded and just how easily he let something like that go, Kurt gritted his teeth and let Blaine relax against his chest.

"They took me to juvie not long after," Blaine said quietly. "My... my dad was crying when he last saw me on the way in. Like he'd finally come to his sense eight years too late. I'll... I'll never forget it, Kurt," Blaine whispered brokenly. "He kept apologizing and he was sober and told me he was going to do whatever it took to get me out of there and make things right and I just... I looked at him. The last thing I ever said to him was that I wish he'd never had me."

Blaine sniffled a bit, and the sound surprised Kurt so much he jerked a little bit.

"And then my grandfather got custody after he died and pulled some deal to get me out of there and into Dalton," Blaine added as an afterthought, it seemed. His voice was dull and cracking and so lifeless that Kurt's whole body ached at the sound of it. "The ankle monitor was part of the deal. He paid for it upfront for eighteen months and had a driver take me to Dalton. He had the location radius changed once he dumped me here.

"I didn't see him at all from the time I was locked up until I got expelled from Dalton. I haven't seen my– my sister in almost three years," Blaine said, and if Kurt hadn't been holding him so tightly at this point, he wouldn't have felt him trembling or noticed the tears glistening in his eyes as he struggled to continue speaking. "And all I could think about when he dropped me off here in May was how much I wanted my Mamma here. Or my Daddy. Either of them the way they used to be, you know?" Tears here silently coursing down Blaine's cheeks as he started to shake violently in Kurt's arms. "I just wanted him there to tell me he loves me and that it didn't matter if I wanted to kiss boys instead of girls, Kurt," Blaine hiccupped and Kurt felt his own tears starting to fall as his throat constricted. "I just want them both here now to see how wonderful it is that I can love you. I don't want my sister to hate me or forget me because of my grandfather. I just want to take back everything that happened, so maybe my Daddy can love me the way he did when Mamma was alive, but I can't. He's dead. They're dead, and all I want is for them to tuck me in and kiss me goodnight."

As the first sob broke past Blaine's lips, Kurt hugged him tighter and eased them backwards into the pillows until they were snuggled up together. He held Blaine for a long time, listening to the shaky sobs and gasping breaths racking the other boy's body as they laid there. When Blaine finally fell asleep, Kurt wiped his nose on the edge of one of the blankets and then wrapped himself around Blaine, never wanting to let him go.

The enormity of Blaine's past settled on him like a pile of rubble. He'd imagined quite a few scenarios to fill in the gaping holes, but nothing his imagination had come up with could have prepared him for anything he'd just heard. Blaine was so... he didn't want to say broken, because Blaine was perfect to him just as he was. Angry, lost, upset, filled with so many repressed memories and thoughts and feelings that he was as unpredictable as a lightning bolt. It was only once he'd struck that Kurt realized the damage that was done. Only once he'd made a huge, spontaneous appearance did Kurt have any idea he was there at all.

He swallowed shakily and let his eyes drift shut as he curled up behind Blaine. The same as every other afternoon this week, he'd set the alarm on his phone to wake them up so they could leave before the assholes that harassed Blaine showed up. With that thought in mind he let himself fall asleep.

But it was Blaine starling awake in his arms that roused them hours later. For a moment Kurt wasn't sure why Blaine had just bolted into a sitting position, but then the sound of the woman next door fighting to get her door to close echoed through the paper thin wall to them.

Without even looking out the window Kurt knew it was well past the normal time they left Blaine's. Judging from Blaine's terrified look he'd realized the same thing. Kurt watched him throw the covers off and tug his jeans on as he searched through the articles of clothing on the floor until he found Kurt's pants.

"Your phone's dead," Blaine said after a moment of fumbling with his pockets. Kurt took his pants and phone from Blaine silently and started to get dressed, stumbling around a bit in the dark room. Blaine pulled back the tarp over his window a fraction of an inch to stare out into the parking lot as Kurt tugged his boots on. Once Kurt was fully clothed he moved over to Blaine's side, keeping quiet so they could listen.

"Do you see anyone?" he whispered, and he hated how scared he sounded.

"No, it's empty," Blaine informed him. "If she just got home then it's not even seven yet. They usually show up later on Fridays."

He let the tarp drop back over the window and slid his arms around Kurt's waist. "If we hurry we should be fine," Blaine said anxiously, and his eyes darted over to the bed and then to his mini- fridge. "We've sort of got a lot to carry, though."

"We... we do?" Kurt asked in surprise, turning in Blaine's arms and now that his eyes had adjusted to the darkness he noticed that the mini- fridge was actually unplugged and turned on its side with the door facing the ceiling. "Blaine, are you– you're moving– I... you're sure?" he finally settled on.

"No," Blaine said truthfully as Kurt turned back around to face him. "I'm not sure of anything anymore, but your... your family seems to like me. I like it there. I'm... I'm going home with you," Blaine murmured, his gaze settling on Kurt's. Hi eyes were bright and nervous. "F- for good."

Happiness exploded in Kurt's chest as he leaned forward and crushed his lips against Blaine's. He bounced on his toes as Blaine returned his kiss eagerly.

"I guess you're a fan of the idea then?" Blaine gasped as he pulled away.

"Absolutely," Kurt practically squealed. "Let's fold all of the blankets up. We can stack them and the pillows on top and carry it all out."

Blaine nodded and they quickly piled everything up, decided they'd have to come back for their school bags and any final little things, took another glimpse outside and then unlocked the door. He hoisted the fridge- blanket mountain up and carried it across the lot. They set the pile down next to the back-seat door and Kurt dug his keys out of his pocket, clicking the auto- unlock button on his remote and pulling the door open. Together they stuffed the blankets inside and then shoved the mini- fridge in after it. It took a few minutes of maneuvering, but they finally got the door closed.

"It's a good thing I've got a Navigator," Kurt said as they headed back to his room, stepping inside and shutting the door behind them. "That thing would never fit in a little sedan."

"No, probably not," Blaine agreed, slinging his backpack over his shoulder, grabbing his skateboard from the corner, and picking up the only thing left in the room of any value. He eyed the blown up photograph of himself and his mother and then pocketed it. The same photograph that had broken down the first of his defensive walls and let Kurt have a glimpse at the boy he was.

"That's everything?" Kurt asked him gently as he shouldered his own bag and ease his hand around Blaine's elbow.

"Yeah, my books and everything were in the fridge," Blaine said, staring around the room that had been his home for the past seven months.

"Come on," Kurt whispered, kissing him on the cheek and pulling the door open. "Dinner's probably almost ready."

"I just... give me a moment," Blaine muttered, tracing his hand over the shell of his dresser. Kurt watched him as he took in the busted up mattress, the little lopsided end table, and the bright yellow paint on the wall over the bed.

"Blaine, are you sure you're ready for this?" Kurt asked hesitantly. He was thrilled that Blaine seemed to have made the decision to finally accept their offer, but only if Blaine was truly ready for it.

Blaine sighed deeply and turned back to him, his face set and his eyes calm. "Yeah," he decided, stepping into Kurt's arms and pressing their foreheads together. "I'm ready. Let's go."

A huge grin broke out across Kurt's face as they stepped outside and shut the door. He turned back to smile at Blaine, but his heart plummeted at the horror taking over his boyfriend's features.

"Duck!" Blaine hollered, yanking him down and shoving him forward slightly as the crack of something metal collided with the brick wall between the door and the window. Kurt whipped his head around in horror to see the four men who constantly hounded and tormented Blaine, two armed with aluminum baseball bats, the other two with several brown bagged bottles. Even as his brain caught up with the scene Blaine was already moving, spinning his skateboarding and smacking two of them in the face as he tugged Kurt to his feet and shoved him towards the Navigator.

"Go, move!" he ordered. "Get in!"

Lungs searing from of the frigid air he was half- choking on, Kurt fumbled for his keys to hit the auto- unlock. The sound of angry shouts and pounding footsteps followed after them as Kurt hit the button. His lights flashed and it beeped in acknowledge as it unlocked for them, but then something strong latched onto his bag, tugging it right off his shoulder and knocking his keys from his sweaty hand. He stumbled, nearly tripping himself up as one of the men slung his bag to the ground, but Blaine was by his side still and his fist connected with the man's face as he steadied Kurt and urged him the final few feet to the driver's side door.

"Blaine– "

"Run, Kurt!" Blaine panted, and some of his fear trickled away when Blaine's hand slid into his and squeezed as they made it to the Navigator. It was only as he flung himself inside, and slammed and locked the door that he realized he'd dropped his keys, and more importantly that Blaine had realized it as well. Instead of heading around to the passenger's side door like Kurt had thought Blaine was going to do he'd turned around and headed straight back towards the group, ducking one bat and skidding across the concrete towards the glint of metal.

Horrified at Blaine's actions, Kurt fumbled for the door handle, but the locks all slid shut as he finally managed to get a grip on it and pull. An icy fist closed around his heart as he yanked on it hard and tried to tug the door knob into the unlocked position.

Harsh laughter, the shatter of a beer bottle, and a cry of pain reached his ears, as the hand around his heart tightened. He stared out through the window, only to have something slammed right up against it a moment later. He shouted in distress, jerking backwards as the locks tauntingly unlocked and locked themselves again.

His entire body was trembling as the hand that had slapped against his window retracted and the man raised his other hand to show him his key ring. Blood was trickling down the man's face from the gash Blaine's skateboard had left on his temple."Forget something, fag?"

Kurt wanted to demand to be let out, to be given his keys back, but the shattering of another beer bottle against some part of Blaine, and ensuing struggle of the other men as they dragged Blaine over distracted him completely.

"Blaine!" he shouted, tried vainly to get the door open, and this time he caught it just right when the man clicked the button.

Only for the other men to slam Blaine face first against his door and knock it shut again. Kurt heard the crunch of cartilage breaking as flecks of blood splattered across his window, and the fresh trails from the broken glass smeared. He wasn't going to sit here and do nothing, wasn't going to sit here with Blaine's bloody face pressed right up against his window. He wasn't going to sit here and cry and stare into Blaine's beautiful eyes while they beat him half to death.

Kurt scrambled over the dash and into the passenger seat, but the man with his keys was already way ahead of him. As soon as Kurt tugged the door open, the baseball bat hit it closed and knocked him backwards. He could feel the tears starting to cling to his eyelashes as the baseball bat cracked against the passenger side door again so he attempted to climb into the back-seat to try and get out to help Blaine that way. But the mini- fridge, blankets, and pillows were towered so high he had no chance of fitting back there to get one of the doors open.

Blaine yelped in pain behind him, and the entire Navigator shook as the men spun Blaine around and slammed his back against the driver side door.

This time Kurt couldn't hold back the choked, hopeless sob clawing up his throat. "Let him go!" he shouted, shifting back over to the driver side door and tugged futilely at the door handle. He was not trapped in here. Blaine was going to be fine. Somebody would come out of their room and help him or call the police or just anything.

But as the two men struggled to hold Blaine against the door the other man armed with the bat stabbed it forward straight into Blaine's gut, Blaine curled in on himself with a choked, gasping cry.

Let me out!" Kurt screamed, pounding his fists against the window as his tears blurred his vision and the sound of the bat being swung whistled through the air. Another yell was ripped from Blaine's body as the bat connected with his stomach.

Behind him the fourth man howled with drunken laughter and called tauntingly through the window as he messed with the locks again, "Bet he'd love to have that bat up his ass!"

Kurt spun around so fast his neck cricked. He slammed his booted foot against the window the man's face was pressed against. A small crack appeared in the glass as he jumped backwards and growled in fury.

"Maybe we'll just have to stick this one up yours now instead of letting you watch and wait your turn, you fucking whore," he sneered, knocking the bat against the door again.

Kurt had barely formed a retort when Blaine shouted, his voice cracking and raw as Kurt spun back around to see his face pressed sideways from the bat that had just connected with his cheek. Only he could barely make out the olive tone of Blaine's skin through the blood covering the side of his face, could barely remember how that voice sounded when Blaine told him he'd never been more in love than he was with him compared to the pain that was filling it now.

Every ounce of hope drained out of Kurt's body as those unfocused hazel- green eyes caught his gaze and held it. The fist around his heart shattered, the icy remains lodging themselves into his heart. Blaine's nose was crooked, dark trails of blood pouring from his nostrils and over his bloodied lips. His dazed, glassy eyes flickered up into his head before back down to Kurt's gaze, some of the blood from the cut on his forehead trickling down into his eyes as he mouthed something to Kurt.

Absolute panic flooded through Kurt's mind as he managed to work out the last two words. Love you.

The locks clicked tauntingly again. With a furious yell, Kurt threw himself back against the passenger side door as the bat connected with Blaine's face again. The man stumbled backwards as he flung the door open. Kurt latched onto the bat in his hands as one of the men holding Blaine let go and raced around to stop him from overpowering the surprised drunk. The other two circled around as well, letting Blaine crumbled to the ground on the other side of the car as they tried to corner him.

Every part of Kurt was filled with panic and horror as he tried to wrestle the bat from the man's grasp. Then the second bat came crashing down on his shoulder and knocked him to the ground with a howl of pain. His cheek smacked against the concrete and as his gaze settled on the motionless figure he could see on the ground on the other side of the car, another desperate plead for Blaine to answer him fell from his lips.

"Blaine, please."

Please what, Kurt didn't know. Please say something, please move, please let me know you're still fighting. Please let me know I'm not alone...

And then the crunch of gravel against tires broke through the horror surrounding him. The men circled around him froze, and looked up as the blip of a siren started to echo around the dark parking lot.

"Fuck!" one of them bellowed and then they were scattering, two hopping the fence next to his Navigator and the others racing around it to try and escape through the main entry way.

Kurt barely registered the shouts of more voices ordering the men to stop or freeze, or the crack of another bat and then the heavy thud of gunshots as he rushed over to the driver's side and dropped down next to Blaine.

"Blaine, baby, I'm- I'm here," Kurt muttered as his breathing started to become erratic, his entire body shaking as his shoulder throbbed and refused to work properly.

Blaine didn't answer him. One of his eyes was already swollen shut, the other cracked open and staring at nothing. His shirt was ripped and covered in dirt and blood; his face was covered in thick, warm blood that didn't seem to want to stop flowing out of him instead of through him. A sharp, wheezing whisper of air kept unsteadily pushing out of his mouth. It wasn't the reassuring breathing he had hoped to hear when he'd dropped down next to him. If anything, the sound of it terrified Kurt even more, and he wished that Blaine would move or flutter his eyelids or try to say something.

Kurt found Blaine's hand and gripped it tightly as he curled himself over Blaine's torso and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Blaine, please, don't– don't – "

He couldn't finish the sentence, couldn't bear to think of what it would mean if he put the words out there into reality and gave them the chance of becoming true. The thump of more footsteps rushing towards them, and the bright flash of a light only made the boy he was staring down at look worse, more lifeless and bruised. More damaged and helpless than Kurt had every wanted to picture him.

The fingers in Kurt's hand twitched slightly as the gasping sobs started rattling in his chest. This wasn't how they were going to say goodbye, not now, not tonight, not ever. He wasn't ready for it.