Blaine was desperate.

Granted, things with his dad hadn’t been great for awhile now, but he never thought it would ever come to this.

He never really believed that he would kick Blaine out of the house, or maybe he didn’t think that his mom would let him.

Either way, it had happened.  There was yelling, and shouting, and raised fists on his dad’s part that never managed to actually swing.  

Blaine let out a sour laugh as he thought about it.  He didn’t even know what the final straw was.

Blaine usually never shouted back, but there was something about this fight - something about the way his father brought up the fact that even his boyfriend had left him - that made yell at the top of his lungs, that made him ball his hands into fists at his side in frustration.

His mother said nothing as his father demanded that he leave instantly.

Blaine glanced at the picture of Kurt in his locker, letting out a slow, haggard sigh. In hindsight, he should have gone to Burt in the beginning, right when he’d left his house. He knew it was too late now, that he’d definitely ruined that chance.

He was desperate for money, desperate to see Kurt and to tell him everything, and Blaine knew it would be stupid of him to turn down $300.

The guy bought the hotel room - Blaine didn’t even catch his name. And once it was over, he left the wad of change on the nightstand and left Blaine in the room with tears streaming down his face.

Blaine was pulled out of his reverie when Sam approached him.  ”You were late again dude, what’s wrong?” He asked.  Blaine couldn’t even remember what he was late for.  ”Don’t ignore me, bro, you can tell me.”

Blaine sighed.  Sam didn’t know.  Finn didn’t know.  Nobody except for Kurt knew, and Kurt didn’t even know the full truth.

“He kicked me out,” Blaine said.  ”I have no clothes, no money.”

Blaine took a deep breath.  ”It’s work,” he said softly, “and it pays well.”

“Look, man, I’m not really catching on -“

“People are paying me to sleep with them,” Blaine said, keeping his voice soft so no one else could hear him.  ”Remember how I cheated on Kurt? I only did that so I could afford to see him.”

“Your dad -“

“Kicked me out, left me with nothing,” Blaine huffed.  ”I went to visit Kurt in New York and instead of telling him the truth, I just told him that I was with someone. And now he’s gone, and I really have nothing.”

Sam looked at him.  Blaine knew that Sam would understand, after his own need for money and his stint at the strip club, but still.  It was different.

“You should tell Kurt,” Sam started, “you should tell him and he’ll understand, Blaine, you were desperate, you didn’t -“

“I knew what I was doing,” Blaine whispered, closing his locker and turning to walk away, “I knew what I was doing, and I don’t want Kurt to be involved in the mess I’ve become.”

…..

Kurt groaned into his pillow, his phone vibrating violently on the bedside table beside him.  People usually didn’t call him at two in the morning, especially recently since Blaine –

But Kurt wasn’t thinking about that anymore. He wasn’t thinking about how Blaine had flown all the way to New York to tell him he’d cheated, how he’d left Kurt broken hearted and single in a new city.  He wasn’t thinking about how much it hurt, or how much it looked like Blaine was hurting.

Sighing, Kurt grabbed his phone and glanced at the caller ID.  He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion when he saw that it was Sam.  He never called Kurt, let alone at 2 AM.

Something was horribly, horribly wrong.

“Hello?” Kurt instantly picked up the phone.

“Kurt, oh my god, I’m so glad you picked up –”

“What’s going on?”

Kurt heard Sam take a deep breath.  “It’s Blaine,” he said, and Kurt’s heart stopped and stuttered at the sound of his name.

“Sam, you know what happened –”

“No, Kurt, listen,” Sam said quickly, obviously trying to get a word in before Kurt hung up on him, “I know what Blaine told you and what you think happened –“

“That he cheated.”

“No, well, yes I guess but it’s not what you think and –”

Kurt was about to protest and say he had to go, before he remember that it was 2 in the freaking morning and teenagers don’t just call old friends that early without a reason.

“Ok,” Kurt whispered, his throat constricting a little.  “What’s going on?”

“Blaine…told me something today,” Sam said slowly.  “He – his dad kicked him out of the house a few days before you guys broke up.”

Kurt’s eyes widened as he sat straight up in his bed.  “His dad what?”

“Kicked him out,” Sam said again.  “They got into some big fight, and his parents kicked him out without any money or clothes or food.”

“Why didn’t he go to my dad?!” Kurt demanded, his voice raising.  He knew he was going to wake Rachel, but at the moment, he really didn’t care.

“You know how Blaine is,” Sam replied, “he doesn’t like to make himself a burden.”

“Idiot,” Kurt hissed.

“But…ok, I’m not sure how to say this…”

“Just spit it out, Sam.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line, and Kurt held his breath.

“Blaine…he’s – god, Kurt, don’t freak out –”

“Sam.”

Kurt heard Sam sigh on the end of the line before his voice came through, softer than before.  “Blaine’s sleeping with people for money.”

Kurt’s world stopped.

When he came to visit the last time, Kurt had asked him how he managed to afford a last minute plane ticket and he’d just brushed it off.

“Oh god,” Kurt whispered, his voice constricted and his breathing stuttered.  “When – when did he…”

“The same day he got kicked out,” Sam said, “before you guys broke up.”

“Oh my god,” Kurt said, so soft he wasn’t sure Sam could even hear him.  “Oh my god when he – when he said he cheated –”

“He wasn’t technically lying, it was just…missing a vital piece of information.”

Kurt had to choke back a sob.  Blaine – his Blaine, his beautiful, loving, caring, goofball Blaine – was kicked out of his house and sleeping with people for money.

“But Kurt, something – something happened –”

Kurt instantly recovered, his tears vanishing as he bolted out of his bed and started throwing on some clothes and gathering necessities in his bag.  He knew that, no matter what Sam said, he’d be going to Ohio.

“What?” Kurt whispered. 

“He – he came to my door,” Sam said, “Like half an hour ago, and he was sobbing and his – his hair was messed up and his shirt was buttoned wrong and he said – he said that someone came and promised him money, and then forced him to do something they didn’t agree on, and then left with all the money –”

“Oh god.”

“And then he just started sobbing and crying and he’s just saying your name over and over and –”

“I’m hailing a taxi right now.”

“Kurt, you can’t –”

I’m coming Sam, and I would love to see you try and stop me.”

…..

Blaine was screaming on the inside.  He felt used, worthless, dirty – even more so than before.

Usually he only gave the guys handjobs, and blowjobs occasionally.  But never penetrative sex.

Except that night.

The guy – man, actually, and god he was probably in his forties – offered Blaine a load of cash.  Blaine had been reluctant, but the guy kept raising the price until he agreed.

And, once it was over, he left Blaine in the room and conveniently forgot to leave the money.

Blaine had thrown his shirt back on and made a dash for Sam’s house – the only place he could think to go.  After he broke Kurt’s heart, he couldn’t bear to think of Mr. Hummel’s face, let alone the fact that it would smell like Kurt everywhere.

For the second time in the past few weeks, Blaine knew he should have gone to Burt.

Once he was at Sam’s, he collapsed in his arms and hysterically retold what had happened, and once he was done, he just sobbed and rocked and asked for Kurt, all he wanted was Kurt, his Kurt.

Blaine, in his hysteria, had forgotten that Sam was still living with the Hummel-Hudsons.

Sam left the room at some point that night – Blaine didn’t even know what time it was – and Blaine pulled the blanket around him tighter and cried even harder.

He felt a hand on his shoulder an indefinite amount of minutes later.  Blaine glanced up, expecting Sam, so he thinks it’s perfectly logical that he almost wet himself when he saw Burt hovering over him with concerned eyes.

“…Blaine?” He asked, sitting down on the couch next to him.  Blaine held back another sob that threatened to escape him.  Burt’s eyes were worried, but there was something in them that Blaine knew was hurt, caused by what Blaine had done to Kurt.  “Want to tell me what’s going on?”

Blaine whimpered and didn’t even attempt to respond.  He heard a phone ring somewhere a few times before it stopped, leaving them in silence again.

Burt was looking at Blaine, his face concerned.  Blaine watched as he reached out a hand before stopping midway and pulling it back.

“Look, Blaine, I know –”

“I’ll leave,” Blaine croaked, trying to stand up from under the pile of blankets he cocooned himself in, “I’ll leave, Mr. Hummel, and you’ll never have to see me again.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Burt grunted, shoving Blaine back down into the couch.  “I know you hurt Kurt, but I still care about you, Blaine.  You gave my son some of the happiest years of his life, and even though things didn’t work out for you guys, that doesn’t mean I’m not thankful to you.  You probably saved him, kid, whether you want to believe it or not.”

Blaine swallowed the lump in his throat as the tears continued to spill out of his eyes.  He opened his mouth to say something when Carole came rushing into the room.

“That was Kurt,” she breathed.  “He said he’s getting on a plane now and that Blaine’s here and that he just really needs him right now –”

Blaine buried his face into the pile of blankets again, the sobs coming back louder than before.

Sam must have come back into the room.  He heard him talking to Burt, telling him that he called Kurt and told him everything and Burt demanding that he be told everything.

Blaine lifted his head up, his eyes searching out Sam in the dimly lit room.  “You – you told Kurt?”

“I had to, Blaine.”

“But – did you –”

“I told him everything.”

Blaine nodded, noticing that Burt relaxed when he huffed out an almost relieved sigh.

“He – he’s coming?” Blaine asked, his voice soft and afraid, as if it was almost too good to be true.

“He’s on his way,” Sam said, patting Blaine’s shoulder gently.  “He’ll be here soon.”

…..

Once the plane landed, Kurt didn’t remember anything besides his rushing to his house, how he all but threw himself in front of the cab in order to stop it, and paid the cabbie extra for him to drive faster.

His heart was beating wildly in his chest.  All he needed was to see Blaine, to know that he was ok – well, as ok as he could be – and that his Blaine was still in there somewhere, even if it took a little time to get him back out again.

While Blaine had still technically, in the sense of the word, cheated on him, it was different somehow.  Blaine’s whole situation made sense, in a sick sort of way.  Kurt knew how Blaine was, how he acted, and while he understood why Blaine did what he did and why he didn’t go straight to Kurt’s dad, it doesn’t mean that he approves of his decisions.

But Kurt knew there was no time for that know.  Blaine needed him, and he was going to be there for Blaine, and they’d sort out their problems and their relationship once Blaine was whole again.

After what seemed like far too long, the cab pulled up outside of Kurt’s house.  Kurt flung the door open and launched himself out of the cab, sprinting to the house and praying that the front door was unlocked, because he didn’t have time to stop and fiddle with his keys or wait for someone to let him in.

He burst in after quickly turning the luckily unlocked doorknob, his eyes quickly scanning the living room and the scene in front of him.

Blaine was curled up on the couch, his arms wrapped around his legs and his whole body submerged under a sea of blankets.  His dad was sitting at his side a fair distance away, looking unsure of what to do, while Carole sat on the arm of the sofa and rubbed Blaine’s back.  Sam had gotten up to greet Kurt.  Kurt gave him a weak smile before reaching out and squeezing his hand, dropping it and moving towards the lump on the couch that was Blaine.

He briefly wondered where Finn was before he remembered that Finn could sleep through an earthquake, quickly dismissing the thought from his mind.

“Blaine,” he whispered, dropping to his knees next to the sofa.  “Blaine, I’m here.”

He heard Blaine sniffle before he lifted his head out from where it was planted in his folded knees, his eyes red and glossy with tears and pain and everything Kurt hated to see in the beautiful hazel eyes.

“It’s ok,” Kurt whispered, even though it really, really wasn’t.  “I’m here.  It’s me.  I’m here and I love you and everything is going to be ok.”

Blaine whimpered, his lower lip quivering as Kurt moved his hands to Blaine’s waist, gently tugging him so he was turned around and sitting on the couch properly.  Kurt reached one hand out and squeezed his dad’s knee, hoping that he got the hint.  Burt stood up and patted Kurt on the shoulder before grabbing Carole’s hand and leading her out of the room, motioning with his other hand for Sam to join them in the kitchen.

Kurt slowly stood up, shushing Blaine instantly when his eyes widened and he started to whimper, Kurt knowing that fear of him leaving was coursing through the other boy’s body.

He climbed into Blaine’s lap slowly, not wanting to alarm him, turning himself around on his legs so that he was straddling his lap, looping his arms around his neck and resting their foreheads together.

“Shh,” Kurt murmured, his fingers moving down to brush the curls on the back of Blaine’s neck.  He inhaled deeply, wanting to smell Blaine and know that he was still there, choosing to ignore the fact that Blaine smelled of sex and an unknown man.  “I’m here.  I love you.  I’m here.”

“You’re here,” Blaine whispered, his eyelids fluttering closed.  “I – after what I did – I can’t believe –”

“Shhh,” Kurt said again, moving one hand to caress Blaine’s cheek.  “Not now.  For now I’m here.  I’m yours, and I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”

“I’m sorry,” Blaine whispered, his voice cracking.  “I’m so sorry, Kurt, I just – I didn’t know what else to do, I had no money –”

“I know, honey,” Kurt murmured.  “I understand.  I promise, I understand.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t ever have to lie to me,” Kurt whispered.  “No matter what you do, I will always, always be here for you.  You don’t need to keep me safe from yourself, Blaine.”

“You don’t want to be dragged into this.”

“No,” Kurt murmured, brushing a few stray curls off of Blaine’s forehead.  “I want to drag you out of this.”

Blaine whimpered again and leaned forward to brush his lips against Kurt’s.

“I love you, Blaine,” Kurt whispered.  “And we’re going to fix this, I promise.”

…..

Burt all but demanded that Blaine move in with them.  The day after Kurt came home, he went over to the Anderson’s and retrieved all of Blaine’s stuff in addition to exchanging some very strong words with them.

Blaine took up a permanent residence with Kurt in his bed.  He still cocooned himself in blankets and cried his eyes out until there were no tears left to cry.  Kurt shushed him and cooed at him and pet his hair and face and cheeks until he calmed down.

It took days to get Blaine out of bed, and weeks for him to return to normal.

Kurt called Rachel and told her that he was temporarily living in Ohio.  He promised he’d come back eventually, but right now, Blaine needed him.

A month later found Kurt and Blaine sitting on Kurt’s bedroom floor, Blaine staring off into space as he handed Kurt over what was left of his money.

“I don’t want it,” he told Kurt.

“We can’t just throw it away,” Kurt replied, eyeing the money on the floor between them.  “There’s at least $100 there.”

“I don’t want that money,” Blaine hissed, scooting away from it.  “It – it disgusts me.”

“Blaine –”

“As long as that money’s here, I won’t be able to forget.  And I can’t use it for anything, because then whatever I buy with it will disgust me.”

Kurt took his eyes off of the pile of cash and looked up at Blaine’s face.  His eyes were watering again, his cheeks red and blotchy.

“Ok,” Kurt whispered, reaching out and stroking Blaine’s hand.  “We’ll get rid of it.”

“Burn,” Blaine whispered in reply, his voice choked.  “I – I want to burn it.”

“Alright,” Kurt murmured, standing up and offering his hand to Kurt.  “We’ll burn this god damned money.”

Blaine let out a wet chuckle as they made their way down to the running fireplace.

“Throw it in,” Kurt whispered, wrapping his arms around Blaine’s waist and resting his cheek on his shoulder.  “Toss it in and watch it burn.  Forget about it all.  Leave it all behind you.”

Blaine wadded the money up into a ball and threw it into the fire.  They stood in silence, Kurt’s arms tightening around Blaine’s waist as they watched the green paper disintegrate into the flames.

Kurt felt Blaine exhale, his whole body relaxing against Kurt behind him.

Blaine turned in Kurt’s arms and rested his head on Kurt’s shoulder.

“It’s done,” Kurt murmured, planting a gentle kiss against the top of Blaine’s head.  “It’s over.”

“It’s over,” Blaine repeated.

“It’s over,” Kurt said again, his arms squeezing Blaine’s waist and tugging him closer.  “We dug you out.”