It was 11 o’clock at night, and Blaine had just driven Kurt back from a date, but it didn’t end there. Pressing him up against the window, Blaine was kissing Kurt deeply. The back of Kurt’s head was cold from the glass behind it. Because the car was sitting in his driveway, Kurt was glad to notice when the windows were becoming steamed up. Well, at least my dad won’t be able to see us. His breath was coming shortly as Blaine leaned in for another kiss. Letting out a sigh of contentment into Blaine’s open mouth, he ran his fingers through the black curls that fell loosely over his head. Eyelashes brushed Kurt’s skin, tickling as Blaine nuzzled his face into the crook of Kurt’s neck. Giggling, Kurt pulled Blaine’s lips back up to meet his own.

Suddenly, Kurt’s phone was vibrating in his back pocket, interrupting the couple. Hesitantly breaking away from Blaine’s lips, Kurt wondered who would be texting him this late into the night. Kurt quickly swiped his finger across the screen of his phone to unlock it, beginning to worry that it might be an emergency. Why else would someone try to talk to me at this time? As his screen woke up, he looked in confusion at the text.

484-883-6936
I just thought I should let you know that you don’t have to worry anymore. Goodbye, Hummel.

What the hell does that mean? Gears were spinning quickly in Kurt’s head, but he hoped that his hunches were incorrect. Blaine knew better than to attempt to keep kissing Kurt, so he just sat there trying to analyze Kurt’s expression.

Shaking slightly, Kurt fumbled with his phone until he finally hit the call button. As the phone began ringing, Kurt held his breath and pleaded for the person on the other end to answer. One ring. Two rings. Three rings. On the fourth ring, Kurt started to pull the phone away from his ear, but then he heard a voice on the other end and he froze.

“Hummel, I didn’t think that you would really call.” The voice had a softness that Kurt had not expected. Truthfully, Kurt was still hoping that it was just a hoax, and that he would soon hear laughter. He didn’t care how much he was made fun of. All he wanted was for his guess to not be true. “Hummel?”

“Yeah.” Coming out hoarse, Kurt’s voice was barely a whisper. “I’m here.” Through the line, Kurt could hear rushing water. “Where are you?” Kurt didn’t really expect to get an answer, but he was still disappointed when he heard silence. “Tell me what’s going on,” Kurt begged, getting desperate. A coarse bark from the boy on the other end was, Kurt thought, supposed to be a laugh. That’s not the kind of laughter that I was looking for. Again, all he could hear was water. It was pouring rain, of course, but there was something else. A river? There is only one that I know of, and it’s within walking distance. “Where are you?” Kurt insisted. Silence answered him. Hammering, he could feel his heart in his throat. “DAMN IT, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!”

“Goodbye, Hummel.” With a click, the call ended and Kurt was left listening to a dial tone.

“What the hell is going on?!” Blaine was intensely staring at Kurt with a worried expression on his face. There was no time to explain right now as his words were failing him, so Kurt sharply shook his head.

Gripping his cell phone, his hand was like a vise. Kurt swung open his door and leapt into the torrential rain, followed closely by Blaine. As his feet slapped against the puddles on the ground, Kurt’s heart was pounding just as hard as the rain. Illuminated by the streetlamps, Kurt splashed through their reflections on the soaking wet street. If he had looked back, Kurt would have seen that Blaine had stopped sprinting after him. But Kurt didn’t look. Only one person was in his mind.

Overwhelmed with panic, Kurt could hardly breath. What if I don’t make it in time? His feet couldn’t carry him fast enough as he pressed forward. Houses and trees blurred together as the rain stung Kurt’s eyes. Reaching the end of his neighborhood, he made a sharp turn left, his feet almost slipping out from under him.

He didn’t even know how long he ran for, but after he made a few more turns, he round the corner only to get splashed with muddy runoff by a passing truck. Now on a busy highway, Kurt barely gave a thought to sprinting headlong into speeding traffic. Cars swerved around him, drivers honking their horns in aggravation. They probably think I’ve gone insane. Running in the middle of a torrential storm down a highway is absolutely senseless, but I don’t care! This is more important than they could imagine!

Hearing rushing water beneath his feet, Kurt realized that he was now on the bridge over the river. If it was possible, his heart began slamming even louder into his chest, and his lungs felt like they were scraped raw. Seeing another silhouetted figure on the bridge, fear and adrenaline rushed through his veins. He hasn’t jumped yet. Kurt could practically scream with hope and frustration, so he did.

“KAROFSKY,” he shrieked, voice grating against his scratchy throat. “KAROFSKY!!” The other boy finally turned his head, though Kurt couldn’t see the expression on his face through the streaming rain. Finally reaching Dave’s side, Kurt was soaked to the bone. T-shirt hanging limply off his thin shoulders, Kurt felt like he would throw up from exertion and panic. Kurt, gasping like a fish out of water, stared Dave Karofsky in his astonished eyes.

“Karofsky,” Kurt pleaded much more silently, “don’t you ever do that again.” Black specks began infringing around the sides of Kurt’s vision, but he still wouldn’t take his eyes off of Karofsky. As Kurt’s knees buckled beneath him the blackness took over his sight. Luckily, Dave reached out to catch him before Kurt fell to the ground.

---

Voices mumbled in the back of Kurt’s head as he tried to make out what they were saying.

“…see how awful the Giants played their last game. The score…”

Why is Blaine talking to me about football? Puzzled, Kurt tried to remember what was going on. Last night it was pouring like crazy and he still felt soaking wet. He clearly remembered going on a date with Blaine. Then they were making out in the car and his phone… Damn it!! Dave Karofsky!!

Eyes flying open, Kurt yanked himself into a sitting position. Startled, the two boys sitting in chairs next to him immediately stopped talking. What? Kurt was lying on a couch in what he knew to be Blaine’s living room. Dave Karofsky was looking at him with a worried gaze. Isn’t this supposed to be the other way around? Karofsky was the one who…

“Hey,” Blaine said softly, “how are you feeling?” Truthfully, his legs felt like he had run a marathon, and his throat was so sore that he was questioning his ability to speak.

“I’m fine,” he managed to get out. Turning to Karofsky he continued, “But are you okay?” Obviously, the answer should have been no, but Kurt doubted that Dave would say that.

Gently, Dave answered, “I’ve been better.” That’s for sure, Kurt thought. “I just want to say thank you so much for finding me last night.” The large boy wrung his hands as he examined the floor. “If you hadn’t, I don’t know what would have happened.” Sitting there in awkward silence, the three of them didn’t know what to say.

“How did we get here,” Kurt wondered aloud. “The last thing I remember is being on that bridge.”

“After you, um, collapsed, you still had your phone in your hand,” Dave explained. “I tried to think of who would help you out. I figured that your dad wouldn’t be too happy to get a phone call at midnight from me, of all people, saying that his son was passed out in the middle of the road.” Fidgeting nervously, he continued, “So, I called the one person who I knew would help you, no matter what.” It was unusual to see Dave being embarrassed because he always acted like he was better than anyone else.

“I probably should be going. It’s just kinda creepy being here.” At Blaine’s hurt expression, Dave quickly backtracked. “I just feel like I’m intruding in on your personal space, and I don’t want to bother you any more than I already have.”

Kurt tried to shoot a menacing glare at Karofsky, but all it did was make them both laugh. “Seriously, though,” Kurt let him know, “please feel free to bother us any time you need to.” I have a feeling that I may regret saying that in the future. Not in a bad way, but in a more comical way. Kurt could imagine Karofsky interrupting the two of them. Faintly blushing, Kurt tried to hide his face while pressing his lips together as not to giggle.

“Thanks again, Hummel.” The kindness in Dave’s eyes still seemed odd compared to his usual demeanor, but Kurt welcomed it. It was a hell of a lot better than the way that he was ordinarily treated. “Now, I really should go.” Blaine walked Dave to the door as Kurt trailed behind them on wobbly legs.

“Goodbye, Dave.” It was still odd to use his first name. “I’ll see you on Monday.” Awkwardly smiling back, Dave closed the door behind him.

Damn. It has been a freaking weird night.