"Oh, crap." He muttered, then sat up slowly. He was in Blaine's bed, but Blaine was nowhere to be found. He heard the shower, though, so that must have been where he was. Kurt was still in his uniform, or at least the pants and shirt. He looked around and found his blazer (neatly folded) and tie on Blaine's nightstand, and his shoes on the floor. He could feel the salty, dry tear tracks on his face from the night before, and knew he had cried himself to sleep. He didn't remember taking off the blazer or shoes, though. He thought Blaine must have done it, so he wouldn't be too uncomfortable. At the thought of Blaine, his stomach gave him a quick jolt. He had fallen asleep with Blaine, again. He really needed to put a stop to that, since it seemed to be getting him into more and more trouble.

A loud snore shook him out of his thoughts, and he glanced over at the other bed in the room. Wes was sprawled out on top of his covers, Spiderman pajamas twisted, and his mouth wide open. Kurt laughed a little, Wes really was a 5-year-old. He noticed something in one of his ears, though, something hot pink. He squinted a little, and saw that they were earplugs, much like the purple ones that Kurt owned. He remembered that Blaine snored, too, then smiled a little at the thought of Blaine snoring; a cute but still mildly annoying sound.

Kurt glanced at the glowing green clock on Blaine's nightstand: 6:03.

"Damn it." He muttered. He slid out of the comfortable bed, laughing a little at the colors Blaine had used (blue pillows, green comforter, gray sheets), then quietly put the rest of his clothes back on. He scribbled a quick note to Blaine on the notepad he kept by his bed (what teenage boy does that?), then left the comfort of the room.

.....

Blaine
Thanks for being there for me last night, I appreciate it. I don't really know what else to say (or write, I guess), I'm still trying to figure out what happened, and how I feel about it. I'm not sure if I'm going to rehearsal tonight, but if I don't, I'll see you on Monday.
- Kurt

Blaine read the note Kurt had left on his pillow, and tried to fight the worried feeling in the pit of his stomach. Kurt was hurting, that much was obvious, but Blaine felt like there was more to it than Jeff and Simon. He set the note back down and got dressed quickly, hoping he'd get the chance to talk to Kurt before rehearsal that day. He wanted to make sure he'd be okay, even though deep down, Blaine knew he wouldn't be.

.....

"Whoa, dude, where were you last night?" Nick asked as Kurt stepped into their room. Nick was sitting up in his bed, looking like he hadn't gotten much sleep.

Kurt sighed, and started to answer as he walked over to the closet, thankful he had more than one uniform. "I was at Blaine's. Sorry I didn't text you or anything, but some… things happened last night and I didn't mean to not come back."

Nick looked confused. "What things? Everything okay?"

"Nick, not right now. I just need to take a shower, and then we need to leave, we've got the French test today." Kurt pulled a new shirt, pants, and blazer from the closet, and picked up a new undershirt and boxers from his dresser.

"Don't remind me." Nick rolled his eyes and flopped back onto the bed, pulling the covers over his head.

"Too bad." Kurt walked into their bathroom, focused on getting ready for the day. He didn't want to think about anything from the night before; not Jeff, not Simon, and not how it felt to fall asleep in Blaine's arms. Definitely not that.

.....

Kurt, please. We need to talk. I'm so, so sorry, but I can't explain myself thru text. Please, please call me. – jeff

The hand that was holding his iPhone shook a little at the sight of the message. The only thing stopping him from throwing it across the hall was the fact that it was a birthday present from his father. A second later, Jeff's message was replaced with a new one.

Hey. – b

Well at least Blaine's message seemed a little more normal. He messaged back.

Hey yourself. – k

Kurt didn't have the greatest texting/walking coordination, so he sat down in one of the benches lining the hall. He still had a few minutes until he had to be in his fourth hour drawing class, and it was just a couple doors down from where he was; he had time.

How was the French test? – b

I'm practically fluent, Blaine. How do you think it went? – k

Well, you're definitely not humble, lol. – b

Nope. – k

So, do you want to get lunch off campus today? We can go to this great place I found a little while ago. – b

Kurt thought about it for a moment. Thanks to the fact that the entire school had just one hour-long lunch, that meant there was a pretty good chance that Jeff would go looking for him, and Kurt wasn't sure he wanted to face him just yet. He was about to text Blaine back when his phone showed a new message.

It's called Little Bits, and their Caesar salads are wicked. – b

He felt his stomach do a nasty turn.

Not today, sorry. I'm not really feeling hungry. Thanks, though. I'll ttyl. – k

He felt bad for turning Blaine down, but he didn't think he could handle going to that restaurant. Blaine was right, their food was great, and he really did like the place; he just didn't want to deal with anything that had to do with Jeff.

No problem. I'll see you at Warblers tonight. :) – b

Warblers. He couldn't avoid Jeff there. Crap.

.....

"Sorry, guys, I'm just not feeling well. I'm heading out in a minute, once I'm done packing." Kurt had his phone cradled between his ear and shoulder, and was trying to close his suitcase.

"Kurt, I know we're not going to Nationals, but we still need you here for rehearsals." Wes sounded irritated with him.

"I get that, Wes, I really do. I just feel like hell right now, okay?" he tried to keep his voice even, but Wes was making it difficult.

"Don't worry, Kurt. Wes, chill." He heard David's voice. "We'll be fine, you go home and feel better. We'll see you Monday."

"But David!" Wes started.

"Goodbye, Kurt." David took the phone from his friend and ended the call.

Kurt let his phone drop onto the bed, and finally closed the stuffed suitcase. He had already changed out of his Dalton uniform, and was now wearing his favorite pair of black skinnies, green Converse, and the charcoal gray Lacoste sweater he had bought during a Gilt Groupe shopping spree. He ran a hand through his hair, not really caring anymore about how it looked.

It was strange, just how little he cared about anything that day. He knew that people had been talking about him; he heard the whispers. He didn't think anyone really knew about what happened with Jeff, but they all knew something was wrong. Everyone had spoken in hushed tones to him, keeping their voices low. He had even heard one freshman remark to another that 'that Kurt guy looks like a zombie' when he had passed them on the way to his dorm room during lunch. Usually, he would have turned around and made a smart-ass retort, but he hadn't felt like it. Now that school was out, he just wanted to go home. Maybe spending the night in his own room, surrounded by his dad and new family, then the rest of the weekend with Mercedes would make him feel a little better. He could only hope.

.....

"You doing okay there, Kurt?" Carole asked as she passed the bowl full of mashed potatoes to Finn.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I'm fine." He smiled a little and took a drink of his Diet Coke. The Friday night dinners were nice; he had to admit that he liked having Carole and Finn there now. This was the family he had never had, but always wanted. He'd always miss his mother, but Carole and Finn were both important to him now.

"Dude, you look like you're sick. You sure you're okay?" Finn had a mouth full of food, but that didn't stop him from speaking.

"Finn…" Burt started to scold him for talking with his mouth full.

"Seriously guys, I'm okay. I'm just tired, alright? This has been a long week." He tried to focus on his food, hoping dinner would go faster.

"If you're sick, Kurt, Carole and I can stay home tonight." Burt looked at his son, his concern was obvious.

"No, Dad, don't worry about me. You've been looking forward to this forever, I'll be fine." His parents (it was getting easier to call Carole his parent) had an awards ceremony in Findlay to go to; Carole was receiving an award for her services at the hospital.

"Kurt, it's not a big deal. If you want us to-"

"Please, Carole, it's important to me that you go and get your award, okay? That's what I want." He smiled one of the fake smiles he learned from years of lying about his feelings. Part of him really did want his dad to stay home and comfort him, but a larger part didn't want to involve him at all.

"If that's what you want honey, then that's what we'll do." Carole smiled at him, and set her hand on top of one of his. "You're such a great kid."

"Thank you, guys." He smiled again, hoping they would finally drop it.

.....

"You're not fooling me, Kurt." Finn was standing in Kurt's open doorway, as tall as ever.

"Excuse me?" he looked up from his copy of the Two Towers and stared at his stepbrother.

"You heard me. Mom and Burt might think you're fine, but I know you're lying."

"I'm not. Now if you don't mind, I need to get this reading done for a quiz on Monday. Shut the door behind you." He knew he didn't need to sound so rude, but it really wasn't any of Finn's business what was going on.

"Alright." He sighed. "But if you want to talk, I'm here. You know that, right?"

"Yes, Finn." Kurt answered.

"Well, Puck's gonna be here in a few minutes. I'm going bowling with the guys tonight. Do you wanna come?" he hoped Kurt would say yes; he didn't like the idea of Kurt being cooped up in the house alone, not when he was acting like that.

"Not tonight, Finn. I've got to finish this reading. I'll see you when you get home." He turned back to his book, and hoped Finn would get the idea and leave.

"Alright. I'll text you when we're on our way back." He was about to say more, but thought better of it. "See you." He left Kurt's room, and shut the door like he was asked. He didn't know what was up with his stepbrother, but if it had anything to do with his boyfriend, Finn was prepared to kick his ass.

.....

"I just don't get it dude, you're in a wheelchair! How can you possibly be beating everyone here?" Mike asked Artie, who had just bowled his 7th strike in a row.

"I used to go to my mom's bowling league with her all the time. I learned how to bowl there." Artie smiled, and rolled himself back to the other guys. "Sam, you're up."

"Watch the master at work, boys." Sam grinned and made his way over to the lane.

"Yo, Finn. Come here for a second." Puck motioned for Finn to follow him over to the double doors that led outside. Finn got up from his seat and walked over to his friend.

"What's up?" he asked, as Puck held the door open for them to walk outside.

"You talk to your brother lately?" Finn nodded his head, not bothering to correct Puck. Kurt was basically his brother now, no reason not to call him that.

"He seems a little off today. He didn't even say anything about my vest tonight." Finn was wearing his awful green puffer vest, the one Kurt hated with a passion. Finn had stopped him (more than once) in the process of trying to burn it. The little burn marks didn't even bother him. Puck nodded a little, almost to himself. "Why? What's up?"

Puck waited for a second, unsure of whether or not he really should say anything. Quinn had begged him not to, and he had promised her. While he really wanted to take care of Karofsky himself, he knew that he'd end up back in juvie, and then everyone would be pissed at him for not being able to go to Nationals.

"Puck, dude, we've gotta get back in there. It's probably your turn." Finn looked a little uncomfortable, and he wasn't sure what was going on. He put his hand on the door handle to go back inside, but stopped when Puck started talking.

"Karofsky kissed Kurt." it was so quiet, Finn didn't think he heard right.

"… What?" he turned around, confused.

"That's why he threatened to kill him. Karofsky's gay, that's why he kissed Kurt, and that's why he told him he'd kill him if he told anyone. He doesn't want anyone to know."

Finn's hand dropped to his side, and his jaw was slack. "How do you know?"

"Doesn't matter, but it's true. I was going to take care of Karofsky myself, but-"

"No. I'll deal with this." Finn's eyes were wide, and Puck could tell he was pissed off.

"We can go find him now, let me just go tell the guys-"

"We're not involving them. Just take me home, I've gotta talk to Kurt. I need him to tell me to my face what happened." Finn started walking toward Puck's beat-up Pinto, but Puck stopped him.

"My keys are inside. Let me go tell them you're sick or something, I'll be right back." Finn nodded, and watched Puck go inside. He needed to talk to Kurt, needed to know that this was the truth. Then he'd get the guys together and take care of Karofsky. Less than a minute later, Puck ran back outside and they ran to his car. Neither one of them noticed the football player who had stopped just around the corner. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

....

"Call me if you need anything, man. Good luck."

"Thanks." Finn got out of Puck's car, and walked to the front door. He unlocked it and went inside, hoping that Kurt would be willing to talk to him.

Once he got to Kurt's bedroom door, he knocked.

"Finn?" he heard Kurt's voice from inside. It sounded weird, almost like he had been crying.

"Yeah, Kurt, it's me. Open up, we need to talk."

"Not now, Finn, I don't feel good."

Finn ignored him, and tried to turn the doorknob; it was locked.

"Let me in, Kurt! This is serious, you need to talk to me." Finn yelled. He didn't want to raise his voice, but this was a big deal; he had to know what really happened. He waited for Kurt to say something, or unlock the door, but he did neither. "Dammit Kurt! Let me in!" he yelled louder.

"Back off, Finn!" Kurt yelled back, with more force than Finn expected.

He closed his eyes and tried to calm down. He knew Burt had keys to all the rooms in the house, and he kept them somewhere in the kitchen. Finn ran down the stairs and started opening all the drawers, searching for Kurt's room key. He finally found it in the drawer that held the spare tool kit. Within seconds, he was back upstairs, trying to quietly unlock the door.

"Finn!" Kurt shrieked when the door swung open. He was sitting on his bed, holding a pillow close to his chest, and Finn could see the wet tear tracks on his face.

"You need to talk to me, Kurt. I need you to tell me if something happened." Finn walked over to him, his hands in the air, almost like he was surrendering.

"What the hell, Finn?" Kurt yelled again. "You break into my damn room and expect me to start talking to you? I told you I was fine! I told you I didn't want to talk to you! What the hell do you even want?"

Finn yelled back even louder. "DID KAROFSKY KISS YOU?" he was surprised at how forceful he sounded.

Kurt's face blanched, and he dropped the pillow. "What?" his voice was barely a whisper.

"Did he?" Finn lowered his voice. "Kurt, please, tell me. I'm your brother now, you can trust me. Just tell me if he kissed you."

Kurt stared up at Finn, shock on his face. How did he know? Who told him? Did Karofsky say something? He was brought back to reality when Finn grabbed his shoulders.

"Kurt?" Finn pled. He just wanted Kurt to tell him the truth.

Kurt pushed Finn away, and jumped off of his bed. He didn't say anything, he just grabbed his car keys and cell phone from his desk, and ran out of the room. He heard Finn yelling after him, begging him to come back and talk, but he couldn't. He needed to get out, needed to leave. Too many things were going wrong now, between Jeff, Simon, Blaine, Karofsky… He ran out the front door and got to his Navigator. He saw Finn standing on the front step as he backed out of the driveway, sadness and fear etched across his face. Kurt looked away and sped down the street, intent on getting out of Lima. Nothing good was there for him, anyway.

.....

"Hello?" Blaine didn't recognize the number that was calling him. It was already 8:30 at night, and he wasn't expecting a call from anyone.

"Hey, is this Blaine?" he heard a voice he recognized.

"Uh, yes, it is. Is this-"

"Finn, Kurt's brother." He knew he recognized the voice. Finn sounded upset, though; he wondered what was going on.

"Is everything okay?" Blaine asked.

"No, Kurt bolted out of here just now, I have no clue where he's going."

"What happened?" Blaine sat up straight in his desk chair (he was staying the weekend at Dalton again), worried about Kurt.

"I need to ask you a question, and I need you to really answer it, Blaine. This is serious."

"What?" his heart was pounding out of his chest; where did Kurt go? What was wrong?

"Did Karofsky kiss my brother?" Blaine hadn't expected that.

"Did what?"

"Did he? Blaine, I gotta know. I was trying to ask him, and he freaked out and left. I know you guys are close, did he tell you anything about a kiss?"

As much as he wanted to tell Finn that yes, the kiss had happened, he knew it wasn't his place.

"I can't tell you that, Finn, that's something you have to talk to Kurt about."

"I was trying to, dammit! But he took off, Blaine, and now I don't know where he is. He won't answer his phone, and I just don't know!" Blaine could hear Finn's voice break at the end, and knew that he had probably started crying.

"Finn, I don't know where he'd go, but I'll try calling him. He might pick up for me."

"Should I call that Jeff kid, his boyfriend? Do you think he'd go to Jeff's?" Blaine realized that Kurt hadn't told his family anything.

"No, no, he wouldn't. Just, try to calm down, and start thinking of places that Kurt might go to when he's upset. I'll call him, okay? I'm leaving Dalton now. If you don't find him and I can't get a hold of him, we'll go looking for him when I get there, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, that works. Should I call his dad?" Finn wasn't sure if he should or not.

"No, not until we know what's going on. If we can't find him, then call Burt. I'm leaving now, Finn, I'll call you as soon as I hear anything." He hung up on Finn, and ran out the door; keys in hand. He knew he probably looked like a madman at that moment; running down the stairs with his freshly washed hair flopping all over the place, his running sneakers untied, and his matching Ohio State sweats and t-shirt both wrinkled all to hell. At that moment, though, he didn't care; he just wanted to find Kurt.

.....

I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock, your peacock, cock

Your peacock, cock, cock, your peacock

Kurt heard Blaine's ringtone start blasting from his phone. The phone was sitting in the cup holder, and had been ringing non-stop with both Blaine and Finn's numbers popping up. Jesse's Girl was a good song, but hearing it over and over got irritating. His phone stopped ringing, and Kurt felt a wave of relief wash over him; maybe everyone would leave him alone and let him sort everything out.

I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock, your peacock, cock

Maybe not. He was tempted to answer it, to hear Blaine's voice, and listen to his advice. He reached out to pick it up when he heard a low ding and an automated voice say 'low on gasoline'. He looked at his gas gauge, and sure enough, it was almost on E.

"Shit." He muttered. He had an idea of where he was; about 8 miles away from the cemetery where his mom was buried. He knew there was a gas station around the next corner. It wasn't nice, and truth be told, it creeped him out a little to go there after dark, but he wouldn't make it back to Lima without any more gas.

I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock, your peacock, cock

Blaine really didn't give up, did he? He decided to answer, if only to calm Blaine down.

"What?" he snapped as he answered.

"Kurt, Jesus Christ, where the hell are you?" Blaine sounded pissed.

"Driving, Blaine. What's your problem?" Kurt demanded.

"I'm sorry I snapped, okay, but Finn and I have been trying to get a hold of you for over an hour. Where are you?" Blaine's voice was softer, and Kurt could hear his car running in the background.

"Are you driving, Blaine?" he asked. He turned on his signal when he saw the little gas station up ahead.

"Yeah, I'm looking for you." Blaine sighed. "Finn is really worried, Kurt, and so am I. Can you just tell me where you are?"

"I'm stopping to get gas right now, I'm almost out." He pulled in, and parked next to a rusted pump.

"Which station?" Blaine asked. He wanted to find Kurt as soon as he could.

"Um, it's the one a few miles west of Bellefontaine, a little ways away from the cemetery." His voice was quiet. He hadn't meant to admit to Blaine that he was going to his mother's grave.

"Oh, Kurt." Blaine knew where he was going. "Can you just stay there? I'm just 10 miles away from you, just stay where you are. Text me the address and I'll be right over."

"Blaine, no, I'm fine, I'm just going to get gas and then stop by-" he was interrupted.

"I'm on my way. I'm going to call Finn so he can stop freaking out, but just stay there, okay? I'll be there as soon as I can."

Kurt let out a sigh. "Fine. Call me when you're close."

"I will. See you soon." Blaine ended the call, and Kurt tried to read the faded numbers on the front of the tiny building. He quickly sent Blaine the address, then hopped out of the Navigator to fill it with gas. He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and was going to swipe his debit card, but of course there wasn't a card reader on the pumps; that would be too easy. He groaned in frustration and made his way inside the store. The man behind the register was definitely older than his dad, and had about as many teeth as a 3-year-old. The store smelled like tobacco and piss, and he wanted to get out of there as fast as he could. Kurt handed the clerk his card and waited while he punched in the transaction. He tried to ignore the leer the man gave him when he handed Kurt back his card, then practically ran back out to his SUV.

He shivered a little at the cold air while he started gassing up the car. It may have been the middle of April, but it was still Ohio. The dark sky seemed even darker, especially once Kurt saw the gray/black storm clouds overhead. He didn't want to get stuck out in the oncoming storm, so he hoped Blaine would hurry.

A loud bang of an engine backfiring caught his attention, and he saw an old red and white truck pull into the gas station. He thought he recognized the person behind the wheel, but there was no way that he'd be out there, an hour away from Lima. He turned his attention back to the gas pump, willing it to go faster. He hoped that Blaine would be there soon, so they could get back to civilization.

Kurt heard the door to the store open and shut, and he saw a flash of red. His stomach dropped, and he could hear his heart pounding in his ears. It wasn't…

"Hummel?"

.....

"Oh, thank god, dude. Thank you so much. Are you on your way over there?" Finn dropped to the couch, beyond grateful for Blaine.

"Yeah. I'm almost there. I'll follow him back to your place, then I'll talk to him."

"I need to talk to him fir-"

"Finn, he's really pissed off at you right now. I don't think pushing him to talk to you is going to help. Let me get him to open up and then we can talk to him together, okay? You know how he is." Blaine sounded sure of himself.

Finn sighed. "Okay. Just, just get my brother home safe, okay? Mom and Burt are staying overnight in Findlay, so if you need to you can stay over. Just get here fast."

"I'll call you once I get there."
"Bye." Finn hung up, hoping Kurt would be okay.

.....

"W-What are you doing here?" Kurt tried to keep his voice steady, but with the large football player stalking toward him, it was increasingly difficult.

"Got a phone call. Got pissed off. Took a drive to cool down. Didn't think I'd see you out here. Aren't you at that fag school now?" Karofsky's voice was deep and rough, and it petrified Kurt.

"I'm at Dalton." He was stepping backwards, trying to get his keys out of his back pocket without making a sound. He watched Karofsky take the gas pump out of his car and place it back on the hook gently, then keep walking toward him.

"Do you want to know what that phone call was about?" He asked, his eyes boring holes into Kurt's skin. Kurt wanted to scream and run and flail, but with the way he was parked, the man in the store wouldn't have noticed. Truth be told, Kurt didn't think he'd care.

"No." he took another step back.

"Oh, you want to hear about this one. Trust me." Karofsky closed the distance between them quickly, slamming one hand on the driver's side door and the other pushing Kurt against the car. He tried not to whimper at the pain, but it escaped through his lips anyway. Where was Blaine?

"Karofsky, go aw-"

"Azimio called me. Said he heard Puckerman tell your stepbrother something interesting. Wanna guess what that was?" Kurt was shaking now, and he couldn't stop. "Apparently Puckerman thinks I kissed you. He thinks I'm a fag, like you. Now why would he think that?"

Kurt shook his head. "N-no idea."

Karofsky let his hand drift from Kurt's collarbone down his chest, and Kurt tried not to think about it. His hand stopped in the middle of his chest, and Kurt breathed a sigh of relief.

Karofsky leaned in close, his mouth less than an inch away from Kurt's ear. "I think you told somebody other than that kid. What did I say would happen if you told anyone?"

Kurt gasped. "I didn't, I swear to g-" he groaned in pain when the hand that was on his chest made contact with his stomach. He didn't know being punched would hurt like that.

"Shut the fuck up." Karofsky pulled Kurt back to standing, and put his hands on his shoulders. He leaned in again; this time his lips touched Kurt's ear. He almost threw up from the feeling.

"Please, just-"

Another punch to the stomach, this one harder. Kurt doubled over in pain, and dropped to his knees.

"I told you to shut up!" Karofsky growled, and shoved him all the way to the ground. Kurt barely had time to process what was going on before a Nike sneaker collided with his left leg, a resounding crack filling the air. "You fucking faggot!" Kurt was crying now, trying to hold back the screams of pain. All he could think of was- one more kick, this time to his hips. No crack this time, just white-hot pain.

"Please!" Kurt yelped when another kick landed on his chest. He couldn't see anymore; his eyes were filled with tears that wouldn't stop coming, just like the kicks. Kurt heard someone yell, and Karofsky faltered. He thought maybe he was going to stop, that maybe the man in the store had heard something and was coming to see what was happening. He closed his eyes and waited for the pain to stop.

.....

Next: Kurt just wants to be loved; is that so much to ask?