Blaine sighed as he unlocked the front door, so thankful to be home after the day he had at work. He could hear Kurt talking animatedly on the phone, probably to Mercedes or Rachel or Carole. Dumping his keys on the side table and toeing off his dress shoes, Blaine went looking for his husband. He found Kurt in their kitchen, the landline placed between his ear and shoulder and chopping up homegrown basil. Blaine's stomach rumbled at the thought of food, and it was then that he realized that he hadn't eaten since breakfast. Coming up behind Kurt, Blaine let himself relax against Kurt, head resting on his shoulder and his hands stayed by his sides. Blaine sagged against his husband, and Kurt took a moment to study his husband's face.

"Mercedes, I'll call you back," Kurt said as he hung up the phone and turned around to face Blaine. "Honey, what's wrong?"

Blaine was speechless.

"Blaine, you don't have to be strong for me. Tell me what's wrong."

Blaine felt himself start to shudder, the emotions that he had to hold in for his students, his girls, starting to bubble. He opened his mouth to speak, to finally express the feelings that had been building up over the course of the day, but all Blaine could muster was, "She's dead."

Blaine rubbed his face into Kurt's chest and allowed himself to properly break down. Silent tears and shuddery breaths had been the extent of his emotions that day.

"Baby, who are you talking about?" Kurt gently coached, rubbing a hand up and down his husband's back.

"Kimberly Walters." Oh.




Kimberly Walters was a student of Blaine's that Kurt knew his husband was fond of. Blaine loved teaching at Convent of the Sacred Heart, a private, all-girl's school in New York, and Blaine had known Kimberly from when she was a timid freshman, walking into his homeroom on the first day of term. Blaine liked to have a special connection with all of his students, but Kurt knew that what Blaine and Kimberly had was much more.

It was the beginning of Kimberly's junior year that she had knocked on Blaine's office door, and in a nervous voice asked, "if it was okay to come in, Mr Anderson?"

"Of course, sweetie," Blaine had replied. It was then that Kimberly confessed that she was a lesbian and 'in love' with her best friend and needed advice on coming out to her family and friends. At first Blaine had been skeptical, why was she approaching me for advice on coming out? No one knew of Blaine's sexuality and about Kurt, but then he remembered Kimberly's small group of friends, and extreme shyness when interacting with other teachers.

Blaine thought about his own coming out and then realized that he never did come out. He was lucky (and unlucky) in the sense that his parents and friends had just known that Blaine was gay and were accepting of him regardless.

"Just be honest with yourself, your family and friends. It may take them a while to get used to the idea, but it will get better, I promise."




Two weeks later, Blaine was in his office, finishing off a call with Kurt during one of his spare periods, when he heard a knock on the door. Walking over and peeking through the blinds, Blaine saw a very distraught Kimberly.

"Love you, see you when I get home." Blaine pocketed his phone and ushered Kimberly into the room.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Blaine asked and passed her his box of tissues. It was an all-girls school and Blaine had to deal with crying girls more often than not.

"I took your advice and came out to my parents, and they were okay with it, but then I told my friends and they were horrible!" She wailed, clutching onto the tissue box.

"What did they say?"

"That they thought I was disgusting and that I can't hang around them anymore because I was going to crack onto them, and how I must love it here with all the girls…" She choked out a sob and Blaine frowned. What had he done? Blaine knew that girls were cruel; especially ones that were sitting on millions of their parents' dollars, and maybe his advice hadn't been the best in this situation. Convent of the Sacred Heart was so much different to Dalton and McKinley, and so were the students. At Dalton, all of the guys were accepting and truly kept things to themselves; and at McKinley, no one really cared about anyone in the Glee club. But girls were bitchy and would gossip about anything with two legs. As sweet as some of Blaine's students were, he knew they all had a catty side to them and it was incredibly disappointing for him to see what they were doing to a fellow student.




Kimberly became Blaine's assistant of sorts. After being isolated by her student body (which Blaine took some of the blame for), Kimberly would spend lunch times with Blaine; photocopying and sorting sheet music, polishing violins and restringing guitars. Anything to keep Blaine's heart from hurting and Kimberly from being less lonely.




The day that Kimberly Walters killed herself started off as an ordinary day for Blaine and Kurt. Blaine returned from his morning run with a non-fat mocha for his husband and a medium drip for himself. Blaine shared lazy kisses with Kurt over newspapers and fabric samples, and grudgingly made his way to work as Kurt sat down at his sewing machine. The teachers were called to an emergency meeting before classes started, and all Blaine can remember hearing is Kimberly Walters…killed herself…found dead this morning. Blaine let himself quietly cry along with a few of his colleagues, until the bell rang and he fell back into teacher mode. As he walked to his classroom, Blaine felt a sudden hatred for this school: the teachers and students that had killed Kimberly. Blaine stopped in his tracks with a gasp. He had told Kimberly to be honest with her family and friends and that everything would be okay eventually. If he had been honest about his own sexuality and husband to Kimberly then maybe things would be different. Maybe she would still be alive. Blaine felt sick to his stomach as he realized that he was a contributing factor to Kimberly's death, and he hated himself for that.

Blaine lay with his head pillowed in his husband's lap, with Kurt silently wiping away Blaine's tears with aloe tissues. Kurt's hand was tangled in Blaine's curls, and had been for some time. The streetlights had since turned on, the basil still on the bench, Blaine's shoes still sitting by the door. Blaine couldn't keep his swollen eyes open for any longer, and nuzzled his face into Kurt's yoga pants.

"I don't want to go back there," Blaine finally admitted to his husband.

"Why is that?" Kurt asked as his hand stilled in his husband's curls.

"I hate it there. I am closeted in so many ways and I feel like I can't make a positive difference in any of those girl's lives."




Months later, Blaine and Kurt take a trip to the cemetery where Kimberly was buried. Blaine, dressed in one of his many "I have been unemployed for three months and couldn't care less what I looked like" outfits, sat down on the wet grass. Kurt gingerly sat down beside his husband, not before placing a bouquet of daisies near her tombstone. The two men sit in silence, with Kurt leaning back on his hands and watching his husband.

"I feel like I should be more dressed up," Blaine joked, noting Kurt's well put together outfit and the skull brooch (which hadn't seen daylight since Pavarotti's death all those years ago).

"You're mourning, honey. You can wear whatever you feel necessary. For the first year after my mom died, I wore the same pair of shoes every day just because she had bought them for me. They didn't match with half of the outfits I wore but I honestly didn't care."

Blaine turned to his husband and gave him a small yet thankful smile, and Kurt cupped his cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too, gorgeous."

Blaine turned back to the grave, taking in a deep breath before speaking. "Kimberly, I want to introduce you to my husband Kurt. He was the only boy at his high school that was out of the closet, and was bullied and taunted just like you. I wish I had been honest with you, Kimberly, and for that I am sincerely sorry. I wasn't brave like you or Kurt, and if I had been honest with you, you could still be alive." Kurt took his husband's hand and they fell into a comfortable silence.




Blaine goes for a job interview at Hunter College High School the day that Kimberly would have graduated from high school. Blaine takes it as a good omen, and happily accepts the teaching position that he is offered. Blaine starts that September and loves it.




Many, many, years down the track, when Blaine and Kurt's eldest daughter walks into their home study in tears, Blaine can only smile. He wraps his arms around the crying fifteen year old and rubs her back as she sobs out, "I think I'm a lesbian, dad. And I don't know what to do, or how to tell papa and my friends and it is all so hard!" Blaine will smile into her soft curls, watching as the tears leave her blue eyes and she overcomes the panic and shock. Kurt will be standing in the doorway, watching his husband and daughter interact with such love that he can't help but smile.

"Georgia, baby, I'd like to introduce you to your papa Kurt. He is the bravest man you will ever meet, and he will always be there for you. We both will," Blaine promises as he looks into his daughter's eyes. Kurt approaches the two, and Georgia throws herself at her father.

"Papa, I think I'm gay," She says into his chest and begins to cry. Kurt rubs her back and shushes her and kisses her forehead.

"I know, my gorgeous girl, and it is totally okay. I promise."

Blaine watches the exchange with fond eyes and a bursting heart. He thinks about Kimberly and Convent of the Sacred Heart and about the fact that Kurt knows how to make everything better. Smiling at his husband and daughter, Blaine wraps his arms around Georgia's shoulders and Kurt's back and breathes in the scent of the family he won't ever let down.