"No, don't. Seriously, it's okay." He paused. "I'm not the one staying in the hospital. I just got a cut on my arm, that's it. Kurt's the one who's in here." Kurt noticed the tender way Blaine said his name.

"Oh, my god, Mia, yes, 'babies' Kurt." Babies Kurt? What did he have to do with babies? "The doctor said he'll heal just fine." Another pause. "No! Jesus, Mia, 'sexual' healing is not what- Holy hell. I'm going to hang up now, I love you." Kurt heard the beep as Blaine ended the call, and decided to properly 'wake up'. He let out a big yawn, and stretched his arms a little, not wanting to hurt himself.

"Kurt? You okay?" Blaine jumped up from the chair he had been lounging on and rushed to Kurt's side.

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm okay." He smiled up at his friend. "Was that your sister?" he asked.

"Ugh, yeah. I'm sorry about whatever you heard, she's insane." Kurt noticed the slight blush on Blaine's cheeks.

"Well, she's related to you, I imagine she'd have to be a bit insane." He joked.

"You have no idea." Blaine winked, and moved back to his chair. "But seriously, are you feeling okay? I can call the nurse in for you, to give you some more morphine." He nodded toward the red call button.

"No, I'm fine. Sore, yeah, but nothing like before. What time is it?" he felt a little groggy, and wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep. The room was still dark, but Kurt didn't know if it was because it was dark out, or because of the heavy curtain covering the small window.

Blaine glanced at his cell phone before answering. "It's 7:42 in the morning, Saturday, April 16th." He smiled. "The year is 2011, if you were wondering."

"Oh, haha, very funny." Kurt rolled his eyes. "Wait, it's morning?" Blaine nodded. "How long have you been here?"

Blaine paused for a moment before answering. "Um, technically, I never left." He avoided Kurt's gaze.

"I thought you were going to go to my house and sleep. Why didn't you? And where are my parents?"

"Your step-mom is at the police station with Finn, and your dad is on his way back from the shop. He said he had to call a few people in to cover for him."

"Police station? Finn? Blaine, what the hell happened?"

The door opened, revealing Kurt's father, looking exhausted.

"I'll tell you about that in a bit, Kurt, but you don't need to be worrying about that right now. You need to go back to sleep, get some real rest. Blaine, you can head back to the house, just park next to your friend's car."

"Sir, it's alright, I can stay here and-" Burt cut him off.

"You barely slept last night, go to our place and crash. You can come back later, after you've gotten some shuteye." His voice was firm.

Blaine nodded, and got up. "I'll see you later, Kurt." he smiled a little, and waved before leaving the room. It was obvious to Burt that Blaine didn't want to leave Kurt's side, but it was getting a little ridiculous; the kid hadn't left the hospital all night.

"Dad, he could have stayed if he wanted to." Kurt sounded a little irritated.

"Kurt, he stayed out in the waiting room all damn night, even though visiting hours were over. The kid needed to go and sleep." Burt sat down in the chair Blaine had vacated.

"All night?" Kurt asked.

"Yep." Burt let the 'p' pop as he said it. "Refused to leave."

"Huh." Kurt was quiet again. "Wait, why are Carole and Finn at the police department? We already talked to the cops about what happened. Do they need more information?"

Burt sighed. "Finn's in trouble, Kurt."

"Trouble? What kind of trouble?" the heart monitor started beeping faster when Kurt started to panic.

"Whoa, chill out, buddy, calm down." Burt stood up and walked over to his son, and took one of his hands in his own. "It's fine, okay, don't worry so much."

"Don't worry? You say that Finn's in trouble and they're at the police department and I'm not supposed to worry?"

"Kurt, if you can't calm down, the nurse is going to have to come back in and give you more morphine. Now breathe." Kurt closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "Okay, good. I'll tell you what's going on, but you can't get too upset, alright?"

"Okay." Kurt had control of his breathing again. "Now what happened?"

Burt pulled the chair closer to the bed then sat down again, not letting go of his son's hand. "He and the guys went looking for Karofsky. They found him at the school, on the football field. Finn laid into him, big time. Broke his brow bone, cracked his jaw, really kicked his ass." Kurt gasped. "He sprained his wrist though, and has a pretty nasty black eye."

"Puck, the other guys, are they in trouble, too?" Kurt asked. He knew that Puck would end up in serious trouble if he had been fighting.

"Not really. Puckerman actually pulled him off of Karofsky, and the other two just tried to keep them apart. The cops got there pretty quick, so nothing too bad happened."

"Oh, god, Dad. What's going to happen to Finn?" he was worried for his stepbrother; he had a shot at getting a scholarship for glee or football, but if he ended up in juvie, he might lose it.

"Well, they've gotta talk to Karofsky's dad, that Paul guy, and your principal, since it happened on school property. If they decide to, they can press charges. Whoa, whoa, buddy, breathe." Kurt had started panicking again.

"Dad, it's my fault. I'm so, so sorry." His eyes were watering.

"Hey, none of that. It is not your fault. That kid attacked you, hurt you, broke your damn leg, and none of that was your fault. Your brother made the decision to go after that little shithead, and you know what? I'm damn proud of him for it." Burt sat back in the chair.

"Wow…" Kurt was a little shocked; he had stepped up for him, had gone after someone who hurt him. Finn was definitely the best brother he could have asked for.

"Yeah. But we'll deal with that later. Right now I want to ask you a few questions."

Kurt felt his stomach flip. "Questions?"

"About this boyfriend of yours." Burt let go of Kurt's hand and waited for him to say something.

"Um, boyfriend?"

"Jeff. The one you haven't introduced me to yet?"

"Dad, he was here last night."

Burt looked confused. "Is he one of the boys that stayed at the house last night? 'Cause I thought you said he was blonde."

"Dad, he came in last night and talked to me. You don't remember him?"

Burt thought for a moment. "That pushy kid? That's your boyfriend?"

"He was pushy?"

"Yeah, he kept begging to see you. I didn't even ask his name, but he had Dalton sweats on, so I figured he knew ya."

"I'm going to kill him." Kurt muttered.

"Why? He's your boyfriend, kiddo, he wanted to make sure you were alright." Burt's confusion wasn't going away.

"No, Dad, he's not my boyfriend." He gently folded his arms across his chest, being careful not to hurt himself. "At least not anymore."

"What happened? You break up with him for Blaine?" Burt asked.

"Dad!" Kurt exclaimed. His dad really was a bit clueless at times. "No! I just, he and I don't really… It just wasn't working." He didn't want to say too much; he knew his dad would fly off the handle if he knew what had really happened with Jeff.

"Blaine have anything to do with it?" he asked, leaning forward.

"No, he didn't. What's with all the Blaine-related questions, anyway?"

Burt looked down at his feet. It was still a little awkward for him to talk to his son about relationships, especially since the 'talk'. He didn't really want to make anything more awkward. "You guys seem real close, that's all." He hoped he didn't sound too weird.

"Blaine didn't have anything to do with it, don't worry. Jeff and I just didn't work out, that's all."

"He hurt you?" Burt let his papa-bear instincts come out. "If he did, Kurt, you tell me and I'll deal with him."

"Leave it, Dad. I can handle it myself." Burt was surprised at the amount of force in Kurt's voice. His son really was growing up.

"Fine. But you tell me if you want me to take care of him, and I will."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Yes, Dad."

They let silence take over for a few minutes. Kurt closed his eyes and let himself settle into the pillows again, the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor soothing him.

"Kurt?" Burt was quiet. "You didn't have, well, you know, with him, right?"

The heart monitor went crazy again.

"Dad!"

.....

By the time Blaine had gotten to Kurt's house, he could barely keep his eyes open. Carole and Finn were still gone, but he found Wes and David cuddled up together on the big brown suede couch in the living room. It was kind of adorable how they were laying; David with his head on one end of the couch, Wes with his head on the other, both of them sort of hugging each other's feet. A blue chenille blanket was lying on the floor, looking like it had been kicked off, so Blaine picked it up and draped it over his friends.

"Blai-" David was cut off by a yawn.

Blaine chuckled a little. "Yeah, David?"

He rubbed his eyes and tried to focus on the boy standing in front of him. "Kurt okay?"

"He will be. Go back to sleep."

"Mkay." David dropped his head back down onto the navy blue pillow it had been on before, and immediately started snoring.

Blaine walked into the bathroom on the main floor, and when he was done, he saw a big green post-it note on the mirror.

Blaine: go ahead and stay in Kurt's room. Our guest room is still filled with boxes, and I'm pretty sure you don't want to sleep in Finn's room. We'll wake you when we get back, sweet dreams. – Carole

He washed his hands and turned off the light, taking the sticky note with him up the stairs. He knew where Kurt's room was, of course, but it felt a little strange to be there without him. He got to Kurt's door and smiled when he saw the black Kurt that was stenciled on a hanging plaque. Blaine opened the door, and was greeted with a sight that made him feel like speeding back to the hospital and hugging Kurt as hard as he could. There were multiple tissues on the nightstand, next to an open photo album. The first picture he saw was of a little Kurt, probably two or three, sitting on his mother's lap. The picture on the opposite page was just one of his mother, looking small and frail in a large hospital bed while different tubes and IVs littered her arms.

The large brown (and really fuzzy) blanket was on the floor, but most of the pillows were in a big pile and pushed against the soft headboard. He could see that there was one pillow on the ground, and even though it had happened more than 12 hours ago, Blaine could see that Kurt had been holding onto it tightly; it was still smushed into a smaller shape. He picked it up, along with the blanket, kicked off his shoes, and slid into the bed. He was quickly enveloped in a scent that was pure Kurt: sandalwood, cinnamon, and a little bit of spearmint. He pulled the blanket over his head, careful to not move his left arm too much. He could feel it start to throb a little, and realized that he probably should have picked up some pain pills.

Blaine was starting to drift to sleep when he heard his phone beep. He groaned, but pulled it out to check who was trying to bother him now.

Come see me today? Apparently I can't leave until Monday. – k

He smiled and typed a quick response.

Of course. Let me just get some sleep so I don't pass out and snore in front of you. :) – b

He didn't have to wait long for a reply.

I wouldn't mind. I just don't really want to be alone later, since Dad has to go talk to the cops about Finn. – k

I'll be there as soon as I can, but I can't promise anything, your bed is way too comfortable. – b

It's amazing, isn't it? Get some sleep, I'll see you later. Text me when you get up, okay? – k

Blaine smiled and texted back that he would, then set his phone on the nightstand. He'd clean up a little once he was fully awake, but for now, he just wanted to sleep.

.....

"Mom." Carole was driving slowly through town, trying not to cry.

"Mom." Finn was persistent, she'd give him that much. "Mom, please." She could hear his voice break.

"What, Finn?" she hadn't meant to snap at him back at the police station, but this was serious. He could end up in juvenile detention, or jail. He could get a huge fine, one that she and Burt would never be able to pay. He could have thrown away his chance at ever getting a football or glee scholarship.

"I, I'm so sorry, Mom." His voice was quiet, and she heard him sniffle. "I just wanted to make it right, I wanted to get back at him for what he did to Kurt."

"I know, Finn." She kept her eyes on the road, but moved her right hand from the steering wheel to cover the black brace on Finn's left wrist.

"Mom? What's going to happen?" he asked.

She was confused. "To you? Sweetheart, I don't know. We'll have to see what Principal Figgins and Mr. Karofsky-"

He interrupted her. "No, Mom, I don't really care about that. I mean, what's going to happen to Kurt? Is he going to have to testify or whatever? Go to court? Is he going to be okay?"

Carole was impressed with her son now. True, he had attacked someone, but that someone had gone after his step-brother. He was also in serious legal trouble, but they'd gone through hard times before, and she was sure they'd be okay eventually.

"Finn, I don't know. We'll have to wait and see what happens, alright?" she spoke a little gentler to him. "In the meantime, you can't leave town, and you'll have to not go anywhere without me or Burt, okay?"

He nodded. "Thanks, Mom."

She glanced at him. "For what?"

"For just, you know, being my mom."

She felt tears prickling at her eyes, but couldn't say anything right then.

"Ooh! Taco Bell's open! Can we get some burritos?" and there he went, ruining the moment.

Jeff was stretched out on his bed at home, trying not to think about Kurt. He was failing miserably.

He was grateful that his parents weren't home and couldn't hear the music coming from his large cd player. They were usually pretty lax about most things, but his mother absolutely hated Disturbed. He felt a buzz next to him, and picked up his phone from it's spot by his hip.

Turn off the shitty music and come unlock your front door. I can hear it from out here. – Si

Jeff jumped up from his bed and walked over to his window; sure enough, Simon's Jeep Cherokee was parked in front of his house, and he saw the black-headed boy at his front door. He pushed the power button on the cd player and made his way downstairs.

"What are you doing here?" Jeff asked. He held the door open for Simon and let him by.

"I came to talk to you." He stepped out of his shoes and made his way into the main part of the house.

Jeff shut the door. "You shouldn't be here right now." He sidestepped Simon and made his way back up the stairs, knowing he would follow.

They made it all the way to Jeff's room before Simon said anything. "I heard about Kurt. Is he going to be okay?"

Jeff snorted. "Do you really care? Because last time I heard you mention Kurt, you said, and I quote, 'screw Hummel'." He slammed his door shut and crossed his arms.

"That was a 'heat of the moment' kind of thing. I don't really wish him any harm, okay? The fact that you guys are together pisses me off and yeah, I'm jealous as hell, but that doesn't mean I want him hurt."

"We're not." Jeff looked at the ground as he spoke.

"What?" Simon moved closer, wondering what Jeff was talking about.

"He broke up with me last night. At the hospital." He mumbled.

Simon didn't think, he just wrapped his arms around Jeff and pressed his lips to his cheek. "I'm sorry, Jeff."

He pushed Simon back, not wanting to be held by him at that moment. "No, you're not. You wanted this."

"Excuse me? You think I wanted you to get hurt?"

"Well you certainly didn't want me with Kurt, did you?" Jeff's voice dripped with acid. "What else was I supposed to expect?"

"You're such an idiot, you know." Simon raised his voice. "I didn't want you to get dumped, asshole. I wanted you to break up with him. I wanted you to choose me over him."

"You don't get it, do you?" Jeff threw his hands up in frustration. "You fucking left me! You left me after we shared so much, after we did everything together! Jesus, Simon, you said you loved me and then you broke up with me two weeks later. What kind of bullshit is that?"

"I already told you, Jeff, it was out of my hands!" Simon stomped toward him, starting to yell.

"Oh, yeah, of course it was out of your hands! Mommy's little boy just trying to make her happy. Mommy's little boy running away from who he really fucking is just so she doesn't lose her precious campaign!" Jeff was in Simon's face now, yelling at the top of his lungs. "You're such a dickhead, Simon! You broke my fucking heart and you think you can get away with that? It's your fault Kurt broke up with me, it's your fault I'm hurting right now! It was your damn fault to begin with, so why don't you just get the hell-" he was silenced when Simon's lips slammed against his own, the force of the kiss propelling him back toward his bed. An angry growl was building but before he could let it out, Simon shoved him as hard as he could, making him fall back on his mattress.

"Don't you ever shut up?" Simon clambered on top of Jeff, straddling him. He didn't give Jeff a chance to reply, kissing him hard and fast. The kisses were frantic, needy, and nowhere near soft. They broke apart to breathe, and Simon took the opportunity to slide his shirt off, tossing it on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Jeff sat up, and let his hands rest on Simon's thighs.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Simon moved grabbed the hem of Jeff's t-shirt and started to pull it up. He moved his arms up in the air and helped Simon take it off, then let his hands fall back to Simon's legs.

"Why?" Jeff asked quietly, gasping a little when the other boy's hands made quick work of the knotted drawstring on his sweatpants.

"You know why." Simon stood up to unbutton his own jeans, desperate to get out of them.

"Say it." Jeff helped Simon pull off the black jeans and red boxers he was wearing, then let Simon slide off his own sweats. He gripped Simon's hips and pulled him back to the bed.

"I love you." Simon whispered. He looked down at Jeff, and saw the water in his eyes. "Don't, don't do that. I'm here, I love you." He kissed the corner of Jeff's eye, trying to catch a tear as it fell.

"You left me."

"I won't. Not again." Jeff groaned when Simon let his hips drop, letting them feel each other for the first time in a year. He meant it, too. He wouldn't leave Jeff again, he couldn't.

.....

"No, Dad. That's too many people." Kurt was sitting up on the hospital bed, brushing his hair. His dad was standing next to him, holding up a little handheld mirror so Kurt could see what he was doing. New Directions had found out what happened to him the night before, and now everybody was out in the waiting room, wanting to see him. Kurt was still tired, and didn't really want to see anyone, but apparently his friends were badgering nurses and his father.

"Well, then how about Mercedes? I think she'd really like to see you." Burt didn't like seeing his son shut himself off from everyone, but he knew that Mercedes could get him to open up.

"Fine. She can come in. No one else. Can you tell them all I'm fine and I'll see them after I get out?" he set the brush down on the side table, and nodded for his father to set the mirror down, too.

"Yeah, I'll tell 'em. Want me to go get Mercedes?" Kurt nodded. "Alright, pal, I'll send her in. I'm gonna go talk to the doctor about your leg, okay?"

"Thanks." He smiled a little, and watched his dad leave the room. Kurt sighed when the door shut, and glanced down at his leg. It was currently on a little stand, but still on the bed. The plaster cast was black, since it went with everything, and it would be harder for people to try to sign it. It was tacky, Kurt thought, to sign a cast. Who wants everybody's signature and stupid little comments on display, on a part of their body? No, he had a black cast, and the only thing he'd be doing to it would involve his trusty bedazzler and maybe some fabric paint.

"Hey, Kurt." Mercedes' voice was quiet when she walked in, and she shut the door behind her.

"Hey, 'Cedes!" Kurt was genuinely happy to see her, but he was surprised when she didn't rush right to his bed. She hovered near the chair instead, a few feet from the bed, and wouldn't look at him. "Mercedes? What's wrong?" he could see the wetness on her face, and knew that she had been crying recently. "I'm fine, I'm going to be fine. It's just a little break, nothing too big. Don't worry!"

"I know, Kurt. I'm just really sorry." She finally looked up at him, and the tears started again.

"'Cedes, you have nothing to be sorry for. It's not like this is your fault." He reached out for her, and she let him take her hand and pull her closer.

"But Kurt, I-"

"No. Stop. This was Karofsky's fault, not yours. Now pull that chair over here and let's watch some tv. E!'s doing a Kardashian True Hollywood Story that I haven't watched yet." He smiled at her and squeezed her hand before letting it go.

"Okay." She scooted the chair closer to him, and let him take her hand again when she sat down. Kurt pushed the power button on the remote, and then started his usual tv commentary.

"Ugh, the sex tape scandal. Of course she gets famous for having sex. Ew."

.....

"How is he, Mr. Hummel?" Blaine had just gotten back to the hospital, after a few hours of well-needed sleep, a hot shower, and a quick (but unhealthy) breakfast of Taco Bell. Finn and Carole had brought food back for all the boys in their house, at Finn's suggestion.

"He's okay. Mercedes is in there with him right now, so you might have to wait a bit before you go in." Burt sat down on one of the wooden benches in the hall outside Kurt's room, and motioned for Blaine to sit on one across from him.

"I didn't see anyone else down in the waiting room, sir, did she come here alone?" Blaine asked.

"It's Burt, not 'sir'. And no, the other kids were here, but Kurt didn't want to see them. He let Mercedes in, though."

"If he doesn't want to see them, maybe I should go too, I don't-"

"He wants to see you, trust me. His other friends get a bit crazy, though, I don't think he wanted all that attention on him. Not for this, at least."

"Oh. Okay." Blaine looked around the hall a bit awkwardly; he wasn't sure what to say.

"I got a question for you."

"Yes, sir? I, I mean Burt?" he corrected himself.

"You like my kid?" Well. That was to the point.

"Of course I do. Kurt's great, he's one of my best friends." he tried to make it sound innocent, and not like he was crushing on this man's son.

"That's not what I mean." Burt leaned forward, his hands clasped together in front of him. "I mean, do you have feelings for Kurt? Non-friend kinda feelings?"

Blaine felt blood rush to his cheeks, and knew he was probably bright pink. "S-Sir, I-"

"Burt."

He took a breath. "Burt, um, I don't really know how-"

"I saw you with him last night, you know. Singin' to him. And it's not like he's never talked about you before. Even with that kid Jeff, he would talk about you."

Blaine was a little surprised. Kurt talked about him? "Burt, I… Yeah. I like Kurt. A lot."

"Does he know this?" Burt finally leaned back, and Blaine felt like he could breathe a little easier.

"Yes. He knows." he glanced toward the door to Kurt's room, wishing he was in there with Kurt rather than out in the hall with his father. "I told him a while ago."

"My son, he's not good with this kinda stuff. You heard about the Finn fiasco?" Blaine nodded. "And apparently this Jeff kid and him broke up? I don't know what happened, and I'm not sure if I want to know. But I do know that Kurt's new to all this, and I don't want him jumpin' at the first guy that gives him the time of day."

Blaine didn't know what to say, so he just sat there, waiting for Burt to continue.

"I like you, Blaine. You're a good kid. You put yourself in danger to help out my son, and that gets you pretty high marks in my book." Blaine smiled a little at that. "I know you like him. Hell, I'm thinking you more than just 'like' him, and that's fine by me. But right now, he's hurting for a lot more reasons than that punk kid beating on him. I don't know what they all are, and I can't help him through all of it. I think you can, though."

"I'll do my best." Blaine said solemnly, knowing what Burt was trying to say. Burt knew that he couldn't always be there for his son, that Kurt wasn't always going to tell him everything, so where Burt couldn't be, Blaine had to be.

"You better." The two looked at each other for a moment, each of them grateful for the part the other played in Kurt's life.

"I'll see you later, boo." The door to Kurt's room had opened, and out walked Mercedes. "Mr. Hummel, Kurt wants to see you." She said quietly.

"Thanks, Mercedes. See ya later, kiddo." He reached out and gave her a quick hug, then went inside the room and shut the door.

"Mercedes." Blaine's voice was cold when he called her name. She turned around, a confused look on her face.

"Blaine? Oh, hey, I didn't even notice you there." She smiled a little at him.

He stood up and moved toward her, crossing his arms as he did. "Who all did you tell?"

She looked confused. "What?"

"About Karofsky. About the kiss." His voice was low; he didn't want anyone to hear them.

"W-what?" her voice shook. "How do you…" her voice trailed off.

"I was the only person that knew. He called me right after it happened. All of a sudden, Karofsky attacks Kurt out in the middle of nowhere? I hear Kurt whimpering on the drive over about 'how did he know' and 'how did he hear'? He told the cops everything last night, except for who all knew about the kiss."

"Blaine, I wasn't going to say anything, I swear, I just-"

"Is that why you're so upset? Not just because Kurt got hurt, but because you think it was your fault?" he was getting angry now. Mercedes had opened her mouth just like she had done before (he knew all about babygate), and now more people were getting hurt.

"I'm so sorry, Blaine, I never wanted this to happen. I never thought it would happen!" she was trying to defend herself.

"You obviously didn't think at all, did you? Mercedes, you're Kurt's best friend. You've got to be able to keep secrets for him if you have that title. He trusted you with this huge, massive secret because he thought you could be quiet about it. I don't know why he told you, or what made him tell you, but he thought he could trust you. Apparently he can't."

Tears were starting to run down her face, and she couldn't bring herself to talk.

"I don't know exactly how everything unfolded, but I do know that you probably started it. I'm not saying that Kurt's in the hospital because of you, just that you telling people about Karofsky probably got him pissed off enough to go after him." He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. If he didn't watch it, he'd end up screaming at her. "You should probably leave, Mercedes. Go home, and wait for Kurt to call you if he wants to talk to you. But you've got to tell him exactly what you did. He deserves that much."

She nodded, then turned to leave.

"Mercedes?" she looked back at him. "I know you love him. I know you want the best for him. You've just really got to think things through from now on, okay?" he may have been pissed at her, but he didn't want her to hate him.

"I'll, I'll try. Thank you, Blaine." She looked down, then glanced back up at him. "You really love him, don't you?"

He didn't know what to say. That was the second person that morning who pointed out his feelings to him, and he wondered if it was that obvious.

"You're good for him, Blaine." She wiped away her tears, then walked away.

.....

"No way. Are you kidding me?" Kurt laughed at something on the tv screen. Blaine wasn't paying much attention, he was more focused on Kurt. "Oh, wow. I cannot believe she just said that! Can you?" he turned to look at Blaine, but was caught off-guard when he saw that he was already staring at him. "Um, Blaine?" he asked quietly.

"Sorry, sorry." Blaine turned to face the tv again.

"No, it's fine." Kurt smiled a little and reached for the bag of popcorn Blaine had smuggled in. "It's fine."

True, he was stuck in the hospital with bruised ribs, a fractured tibia and more bumps and bruises than he wanted to count, but Blaine was with him. And yeah, he was still reeling a bit from everything that had happened in the past week (Jeff, Karofsky, various arguments), but at that moment, he didn't really care.

"She didn't just take off her underwear in the cab, did she?"

Kurt shook his head. "Blaine, it's Lindsay Lohan. She's nuts."

.....

Monday had gone by extremely slow for Blaine, and he could barely hold in his excitement to get back to Lima. He had spent his lunch hour going to each of Kurt's teachers to get his assignments for the week, and was now pulling into his driveway, a smile plastered to his face.

"Come on in, sweetheart. Burt's helping Kurt down the stairs for dinner, he'll be down in a few minutes." Carole held the door open for Blaine.

"Oh, I guess I'll drop these off and head back to campus then." He should have waited to come over; it was close to 5, and he should have known they'd be eating dinner.
"No! I set an extra place at the table for you already, you're staying for dinner. You drove two hours to bring Kurt his homework, the least we could do is feed you." She smiled broadly, and ushered him into the living room. "Just drop his stuff there, you guys can go upstairs and study after you eat. Is vegetarian lasagna okay for you?"

He slipped off his polished shoes and left them on the mat next to Finn's giant sneakers, set his overstuffed messenger bag on the floor, and followed Carole into the dining room.

"Hey, Blaine, what's up?" Finn lumbered over to him and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Uh, I'm good, Finn. You?" it was a little strange to be hugged like that by Finn, but he didn't mind so terribly; Finn was a good guy, and was probably just grateful to Blaine for the part he played in helping Kurt.

"I'm doing okay. This whole assault thing sucks, but we're still waiting on Figgins and Mr. Douchebag-"

"Finn!"

"Sorry, Mom!" Finn apologized. "Figgins and Mr. Karofsky to figure out what they wanna do."

"Hopefully you don't get in serious trouble, man. That would really suck." Blaine really didn't want anything to happen to Finn; Kurt would just feel like it was his fault.

"Yeah, we all hope that. Finn would probably cry himself to sleep if he went to juvie." Blaine spun around when he heard Kurt's voice, and saw him leaning on his father, just a few feet away.

"Dude. Not cool." Finn grumbled, then walked away to help his mother bring in the food.

"Kurt, be nice to your brother." Burt laughed a little and helped Kurt get to his chair at the table. "Blaine? Can you get the footstool thing out of the living room?" he pointed in the general direction.

"Ottoman, Dad. Ottoman." Kurt shook his head.

"Whatever." Burt rolled his eyes. "Thanks." Blaine situated the ottoman next to Kurt's chair and watched as his father helped him sit down, then lifted his leg. Kurt winced a little, and Blaine had to stop himself from asking if he was okay.

"Alright boys, homemade veggie lasagna with white rice as a side, then some sugar-free rice krispie treats for dessert. Dig in." Carole and Finn set the dishes full of food onto the table, then sat down.

"Kurt, can't we have normal food for once?" Finn whined as he put a large spoon into the rice dish.

"This is normal food, Finn. It's just healthy." Kurt rolled his eyes.

"I'm with Finn on this one." Burt's voice was quiet, almost as if he didn't want Kurt to hear him.

"Oh, no you don't, Dad. The whole reason we started eating healthier is because of what happened to you, and frankly, I'm glad that we no longer have a single bag of Cheetos in this house."

"No Cheetos?" Blaine asked, bewildered.

"Yeah, no Cheetos. There's something wrong with him." Finn leaned over to Blaine. "I think he's crazy." Blaine couldn't help but laugh.

"Mr. Anderson, you are not helping matters!" Kurt glared at Blaine, who just sat back and kept laughing. He really enjoyed spending time with Kurt and his family, and the fact that Kurt's attitude seemed to have come back made everything that much better.

.....

"Do you think Oscar Wilde was gay?"

Kurt nearly spit out the Diet Coke he was drinking. "What?"

The boys were in Kurt's room, set up on his bed with all their homework around them. It was a little after 6 pm, and Blaine knew he should be on his way back to Dalton, but he had decided to stick around and do homework with Kurt.

"Seriously, do you think he was gay?"

"Blaine, sometimes I worry about you." He shook his head and turned back to his math, trying to get it out of the way first.

"Oh, how sweet." Blaine laughed. "You worry about me."

"Let me clarify: I worry about your mental state, Blaine. Your mental state." He laughed at the look Blaine gave him; one eyebrow arched up, and his mouth in a mock scowl.

"Says the guy who glued rhinestones to his cast. I mean, seriously, Kurt?"

"What? They're fashionable." Kurt turned his attention back to the problem he was working on, and let the silence fill the room. It wasn't uncomfortable, just nice. They continued like that for a while, both of them working on homework, listening to the quiet music coming from Kurt's iPod dock, until Blaine moved his arm wrong and let out a hiss.

"Shit." He groaned, and lifted his arm to his chest.

"You alright, Blaine?" Kurt looked up to see a flash of pain on Blaine's face.

"Yeah, it's nothing. Just pulled at the stitches a little, I'll be fine." He pulled back the white sleeve of his shirt to reveal the long line of little black stitches, the skin around them looking red and angry.

Kurt reached a hand out and lightly touched his wrist, a question on his face. "Blaine?"

He could barely think straight with Kurt touching him, even if it was just his stupid wrist. "Y-yeah, Kurt?" Smooth. Real smooth.

"You said something before, in the hospital. Something about stitches?"

Blaine knew what was coming.

"You said you'd tell me about something that happened to you before. Can you, can you tell me now?" Kurt saw the hesitancy on Blaine's face, and moved his hand away. "I mean, if you don't want to-" Blaine grabbed his hand before he could completely pull away.

"No, it's okay. I can tell you. I mean, I'll probably have to show you, but I can tell you how it happened." He was nervous, yeah, but if telling Kurt what he went through would make him feel better about the attack, then it would be worth it.

"Show me?" Kurt asked. "What do you mean?"

Blaine let go of Kurt's hand (he really didn't want to) and moved to get off the bed.

"Where are you going?" Kurt sounded a little panicked.

"I'm not going anywhere, I just had to stand up to show you, it makes it easier." He stood next to Kurt on his side of the bed, and started unbuttoning his shirt.

"Um, Blaine?" Kurt was turning red.

Blaine laughed a little. "Don't worry, I'm not completely undressing." He smiled at Kurt, then finished with his shirt. He set it next to Kurt, then took a deep breath before he slipped off the white undershirt and bunched it in his hands. He heard Kurt gasp (a very quiet one, he barely heard it) and smiled, turning a little red as he did.

"W-what are you supposed to be showing me, Blaine? I mean, if my dad or Carole come in-" Blaine turned around quickly, revealing his strong back to Kurt for the first time. "Oh, Blaine." He heard pity in Kurt's voice.

"See?" he said. "Not my first time with stitches."

"Come closer." Kurt spoke up. Blaine took a couple steps back. "No, like, sit down. Let me see." Blaine tried to quiet the warning voices in his head screaming that Kurt was going to be disgusted with him and what he looked like, and sat down on the edge of the bed, a few inches away from Kurt. He didn't expect to feel soft, warm fingers on his back, tracing the three long scars. They stretched from the far side of one shoulder to the other, three perfectly straight lines, about an inch between each one.

"What happened?" Kurt asked, his voice almost a whisper. He let his fingers trace the deep pink lines, wanting to just make him feel better. He felt Blaine's lungs expand, and heard the shaky breath he took. "Blaine, you can tell me anything, you know that."

"I know, Kurt. I just don't like to think about it." He took another breath, and started talking, enjoying the feel of Kurt's hands on him.

"I was a freshman, 14 years old. I wasn't popular, at all, and I don't think I even had one friend. Well, I had my sister, but she wasn't at school with me, she was 22 then. Anyway, I usually kept to myself, just doing my work, not really answering questions in class, just really quiet. It was easier. I had come out to my sister when I was 13, and to my parents just a few days after that. They were all really supportive, even my dad. I got lucky, I guess, with everyone being so great. Most kids who come out don't get that."

"I know." Kurt sighed, letting his hand stop on Blaine's right shoulder. "We both got really lucky." Blaine nodded, then continued.

"I was lucky at home, but not so much at school. I told you I was bullied?" he turned to see Kurt nod. "I was made fun of by most everyone, but there were three main guys who were the worst. Shawn Addams, Mark Schneider, and Christian Walker. Mark and Shawn were juniors, and Christian was a sophomore, but he was on most of the varsity teams. They were the stars of our high school athletics program, and Christian was also really big in the theater program. He was kind of the all-American boy, you know? Smart, funny, attractive, athletic, popular, all that."

"You liked him." Kurt didn't phrase it as a question; he knew.

"Y-yeah. I did." He felt so embarrassed.

"Blaine, you forget. I had a crush on Finn. Crushing on straight popular boys is something I am definitely not going to judge you for." Kurt brought his other hand up to rest on Blaine's shoulders, and started giving him a light massage, trying to keep him calm enough to continue with his story.

"I had a crush on Christian. It was awful and embarrassing and even though I knew nothing would come of it, I still had that stupid little hope in the back of my mind. Even when he would call me a fag when he would walk by me, I still liked the sound of his voice. I always figured I was just screwed up, liking him. I never told anyone, of course, but I think he could tell. I'm not the greatest at keeping the object of my affection in the dark."

Kurt laughed a little at that. "True, true. Robin Thicke songs aren't really the best way to tell a guy you like him." Blaine smiled.

"I didn't sing to Christian, just so you know. I guess I was just too nice to him in the halls, or in the AP science class I was in with him, but he figured it out. After that, it got worse. It wasn't just yelling names at me, or saying hurtful things, it escalated. The first time was just a locker slam. Mark walked by me on my way to guitar class one morning, and clocked me with his shoulder, hard. I hit the locker before I knew what had happened."

"I'm so sorry, Blaine." Kurt sounded sad.

"Oh, it got worse from there. More embarrassing, too. About a week after the locker pushes started, I had an incident with all my clothes during PE. We had been playing soccer, and it was raining outside, so I was covered in mud. I had gotten a pass from my teacher to be late to my next hour, and took a shower. My dirty gym clothes were in a hamper in the locker room, and my clean clothes were in my gym locker. I just had my towel. I'm not sure which one did it, or how many of them, but when I was done with my shower, I went out to get dressed. None of my clothes were in my locker. My backpack was left alone, but my clothes, cell phone and iPod were gone. I went to go get my dirty clothes from the hamper, and it was empty."

"They took your clothes?" Kurt sounded shocked.

"Yeah. And it was only 5th hour, I still had two more classes to go. I couldn't bear to leave the locker room and go looking for my teacher, so I just grabbed my backpack and hid in the shower stall until he came back. He didn't come back in until 7th hour was almost over. He called my parents, asked them to bring me spare clothes and take me home. It sucked, a lot. That was when they first really found out about what was going on, and went to the principal. He acted sympathetic, but basically said that there was no proof that Mark, Christian and Shawn had been the ones to do it, so there was nothing he could do. After that, though, they had chilled out a bit, they kind of left me alone. There was one day, though, when it blew back up. Bad." He stopped for a second, afraid to go on.

"Blaine?" Kurt was quiet again.

"Yeah, Kurt?" he faced him, concerned that he would have him stop.

"Come up here." Kurt lifted himself up a little (Blaine saw his muscles stretch under the strain) and moved over, leaving enough room that Blaine could lie next to him. "Seriously, get up here. I didn't lift my ass all the way over here to have you stare at me like that." Blaine laughed, then stood up. "Don't go!"

"Kurt, I'm not going anywhere, I told you." He shook his head, then showed Kurt the white undershirt in his hands. "I'm putting this back on. It wouldn't do any good for your dad to walk in and see me half-naked, lying in your bed."

Kurt had to agree, that wouldn't be a good thing. He watched as Blaine pulled the shirt over his head, ruffling his hair a little more, then smiled when Blaine crawled next to him and laid on his side.

"'Kay. Now tell me the rest." Kurt wanted to know what happened, what gave Blaine those scars.

"It started at lunch, I guess. I had the same lunch as Christian and Mark, and everyone usually left me alone. I sat at a table with a few other kids, but none of us were really friends, we just sat with each other so we wouldn't be alone. I, uh, had a bad habit of writing down whatever I was thinking in this little notebook I used to carry on me. It was mainly for my song writing and some poetry here and there, writing the music to go along with it, but every once in a while I wrote down other things. Things like… like Christian's name. Not on purpose, but sometimes I'd just be thinking of him and I'd look down, and there would be his name."

"I've done that. I think you'll find a name or two you recognize if you were to look through my Moleskine…" Kurt smiled.

"I'm sure I would." Blaine's smile matched Kurt's for a moment, but fell away when he began to talk again. "Mark and Christian were leaving the lunchroom, and ended up passing me. I had my notebook open and was writing, and I guess they must have seen what I wrote, because the next thing I knew, Mark was laughing as loud as he could, and Christian was bright red. They didn't say anything, but they left pretty quickly after that. I didn't know what to do after that, other than just lay low, lower than I had been. The rest of the day went by kind of fast, and as soon as 7th hour was out, I went outside to wait for Mia. She usually picked me up in the back of the building, because I hated waiting out front with the other kids, so I was back there, waiting for her when they came."

Kurt took Blaine's hands in his own, trying to give him a little bit of comfort; he knew this wasn't easy.

"I was by the dumpsters. It was a good place to hide, usually, because the jocks never went back there. This time, though, they did. I think they were looking for me, or maybe following me. Not sure. But they came up to me, Christian in front, Mark and Shawn behind him. He called me a fag. Asked me why I thought I had the right to want him. I just kept quiet, hoped they'd get bored and leave, but they didn't. Shawn came up on my right side and knocked my bag out of my arms, then Mark picked it up and tossed it in the dumpster. I thought I was next, but they didn't throw me in, instead they… Mark kicked me in the stomach, and Shawn kicked the back of my knees. I ended up on the ground, but still on my knees. That was when Christian came over, and stood right in front of me. I was right at the level for, well, yeah. And he knew it. He called me a 'nasty little cocksucker'." Kurt gasped. "Yeah. Asked me if I'd like to do that to him. I just kept my mouth shut, tried not to cry. It didn't matter, though, he still kept saying that crap to me. He stopped, though, after a while. I thought he was done, thought they'd leave. But Mark and Shawn pulled me up instead, and Christian got in my face. I didn't know how close I was to the dumpster, but he shoved me back until I hit it. I felt these sharp points in my back, and I found out later that it was where the dumpster edges had been torn by the levers on the garbage truck. I tried to move, to get away, but he just pushed his arm into my chest, like this." Blaine moved his right arm against Kurt's chest, his hand on his right shoulder, and elbow against his left. "He leaned real close to me, and for a second, I thought he might kiss me. It was stupid, I know, but that's what it felt like. He just said something though."

"What did he say?" Kurt hadn't let Blaine move his arm, and was now hugging it to his chest.

"He told me I deserved to die. Then he pushed me back as hard as he could, with the points in my right shoulder. I felt them go in, and I started to scream. He just clamped a hand over my mouth, then pushed me to the side. It ripped my skin open, I could feel it. I could feel every tiny bit of it, could hear my skin tearing apart. It felt like it took hours, but it was probably over in seconds. Christian finally let go of me, and I just dropped to the ground, like a sack of flour. I'm not sure how long I was there, but after a bit I heard Mia's car pull up. She was always blasting her Godsmack cds, and when I heard 'Serenity', I knew she was there. It didn't take her long to find me, she knew where I usually waited for her. I don't remember much after that. Apparently I passed out, due to blood loss." He let out a dark laugh. "I'm good at that, too. Anyway, I woke up at the hospital later that day. I had 72 stitches altogether, 24 for each cut."

"Blaine…" Kurt didn't say anything else, he just held tighter to Blaine's arm.

"My parents spoke to the police, and the principal. Both of them said that there wasn't really anything they could do, since there wasn't any proof. The principal even said that they couldn't prove I hadn't done it to myself to get them into trouble."

"Are you freaking serious?" Kurt's eyes were wide.

"They were star athletes, Kurt. Hadn't ever done anything wrong before, they were the 'good kids' and I was just the school's token gay kid. There wasn't any reason for them to do what I was accusing them of."

"Then what happened?"

"Mia had been researching private schools for a while by then. She hadn't even told me about it. She sat all of us down the night I went home, and showed them the brochure for Dalton. My parents made the decision the next day to send me there, and that was that. I was no longer a public school student. I told you I ran, Kurt. I did. I didn't face them, not after that. I haven't even seen them."

"Blaine! You didn't really have a choice in leaving, it sounds like it would have just gotten worse if you had stayed!" Kurt's voice was urgent.

"No, Kurt, I was a cowa-"

"So help me god, Blaine Anderson, if you finish that sentence I will smack you with a crutch." He pointed at one of the silver crutches resting by his night stand (it was bedazzled, too). "You are not a coward. You were in hell, and you had to get out. And if you think you were a coward, that you ran, then what would that make me? I did the exact same thing as you."

Blaine sat up. "No! You're not a coward, you were suffering, your life was threatened, you couldn't stay there!"

Kurt pulled himself up, and glared at Blaine. "Idiot, same thing happened to you. You don't think getting your back torn open constituted a threat on your life? Blaine, if anything, we were both in dangerous situations and had to leave, okay?"

Blaine sighed. "Kurt, no one actually said anything about threatening my life, it's different from what happened to you. Karofsky threatened to kill you, and then he pretty much acted on it." A vision of Kurt lying on the cold cement with Karofsky's foot coming at him flashed in Blaine's mind, making him shake almost imperceptibly.

"Listen to me, Blaine." His face was turned away from Kurt, so he cupped Blaine's chin and turned it back toward him. "You didn't do anything wrong. You're not a coward. You were attacked, and so was I. We had to get out before it got worse. That's it, okay?" Blaine just looked even more sad; Kurt had to fix that. "If you hadn't left, do you think you ever would have met me? Would you have been able to give me the advice to leave? If you're so concerned about me, Blaine, then what do you think would have happened if you hadn't been there Friday night? Do you think I'd be here right now? Do you think I'd just have a stupid broken leg and some bruised ribs, or would it be worse?"

"Kurt-"

"If it wasn't for you, I have no idea what would have happened to me. You saved me, Blaine. You." Kurt noticed the tears falling from Blaine's eyes before Blaine did, and he reached up to wipe them away. He felt a hand wrap around his wrist, holding it in place.

"I had to. I don't want to know what life would be like without you, Kurt. I know you probably don't feel the way I do, and I know everything with Jeff and Simon has really fucked things up in your head but I just-"

"Blaine? Do me a favor, and shut up." Kurt pulled Blaine's face closer, and smelled that signature 'Blaine' smell of coffee and peppermint. Blaine barely had time to react to the closeness before his lips finally met Kurt's in a sweet, slow kiss. Kurt felt Blaine's arms pull him in, felt the warmth that was his chest. He held fast to his face, never wanting to let go, never wanting it to end. The kisses he had with Jeff were nothing like this; there was love here. Actual love.

The two boys kept holding each other tight, kept kissing, their homework forgotten. Kurt got to run his hands through Blaine's curly hair, finally feeling just how soft it was. Blaine got to feel the strong muscles in Kurt's back, moving and stretching as they laid down together, not bothering to stop kissing. Kurt smiled into the kiss, though, when he heard the song that was playing on his iPod. The song had never been more true to him than in that moment.

.....

Next: Where do we go from here?