This story takes place after "Furt." I figure everyone has to figure out about the kiss and Kurt has to come back to McKinley somehow, and this is my take on how that happens. I realize there's almost no chance it'll play out this way. I don't care. :)

I've already got a lot more of this written so I'll probably be updating pretty quickly.

Title: Witness

Author: You Are Airborne

Rating: T for swearing, I guess?

Characters: Kurt/Glee friendship, Kurt/Blaine friendship, maybe slash

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee

Finn stood at the foot of the stairs that night, fists clenched, watching Kurt pack for Dalton in the morning.

He had this look on his face, this goddamn look, like a frickin' kicked puppy. Silent tears rolled down his face and he packed too slowly, as if it pained him to move.

And Finn was so pissed. How could Kurt do this? They were all finally standing up for him. Finn was being a brother to him like he should have done from the beginning. They loved him; couldn't he understand that?

No. He was tossing them aside. The glee club just wanted to help him and he was leaving them.

And then he sighed and stopped packing. Without lifting his eyes from the crumpled clothes in his suitcase, Kurt whispered, his voice high and crackly, "What is it, Finn?"

He didn't know how to respond at first: he just opened his mouth and opened and closed his fists a few times. Then, he burst, "How could you do this to us?"

Kurt barely reacted. He just closed his eyes and more tears came out, and he looked sadder but not angry or anything, and Finn just deflated. He sagged against the wall and stared imploringly at his step-brother. "I just don't get it," he pleaded. "Please, tell me, what can we do?"

"Nothing."

His anger roared back again. He surged across the room and grabbed Kurt's shoulders, turning him so that he could properly yell in his face. "Dammit, stop acting like you're all alone! Stop pretending that no one's here for you, Kurt, because we are, and you know that now, how could you not know that? It's so selfish to sit there and pretend that we don't love you and to just… just run away from us because you're scared!" He finished with a shake to the younger boy's shoulders and then they just stood there, staring wildly at each other.

"I'm not," Kurt whispered, shaking his head slightly. "Finn… Glee has been amazing to me and I'm so…" He choked back a sob. "I'm so grateful, but I just… No one can protect me from what he's done. It's not just about getting shoved into lockers or getting beat up. He scares me, Finn, and you can't protect me from that. You can't—" He started bawling then, and his speechless stepbrother pulled him into a hug. Kurt clung onto him as if he'd die if he let go, his body trembling and tense.

Finn's mind reeled in circles. Something was strange about this Karofsky situation. There was something else, something really wrong.

Kurt calmed down enough to mutter into Finn's chest, "You can't protect me from the way he looks at me. I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry to you and Mr. Shuester and to Glee… and to Dad and Blaine for running away… I know I must be disappointing him, and all of you… but I can't do it anymore." He sniffed and pulled away, turning back to the suitcase. "I don't want to leave you guys, but I can't stand to be near him. It hurts, and I wish I could stay, but I'll never feel safe as long as he's there." Carefully composing himself, he wiped the tears from his face.

"Kurt, what really happened?" Finn asked breathlessly. "Because if he did something to you we can tell; we can get him kicked out of McKinley."

"I don't know what you're talking about," was the reply, as breezy as Kurt could manage.

"Don't bullshit me—"

"Finn, really—drop it." He took a deep breath. "Nothing else happened, okay? Just leave it alone." He sniffed and looked up at his new brother with big, wet eyes. "Thank you for caring. This all means so much to me. But I have no choice."

Finn stared incredulously at him for a minute and then turned away to sit on his own bed and put his head in his hands. This wasn't fair. This wasn't right. They were supposed to be happy now.

Hot tears welled in his eyes and he didn't care enough to hold them back.

On the first weekend after Kurt's transfer to Dalton Academy, he sat in his room at home with Mercedes. Neither spoke for a long time. They just perched on the edge of his bed and held hands.

"We miss you, Kurt," Mercedes said, her voice raspy and thin. "It's not right—competing against you for sectionals. We don't want to win… No one is even making an effort anymore. We want you back."

"I understand," he told her, looking at their hands held tightly together. "It was really difficult going to Warblers rehearsal, 'Cedes. But you all have to remember that Glee Club is about something bigger than me. I don't care who wins, but… I don't want you guys to throw away the competition because of me. Promise you'll try to talk some sense into them."

She was silent for a moment. "Fine," she said sulkily, but then she looked at him and smiled. He smiled back, relief flooding his body. Her frown had broken his heart.

"So how is Dalton treating you?" she asked, leaning into his shoulder.

"It's an adjustment," he admitted. "I have to work a lot harder in class, and everything's just kind of overwhelming, but… I feel safe. People I don't even know smile at me in the hallways, Mercedes. No one's made fun of me or pushed me or anything. They're interested in what kinds of things I like and what I do instead of just my sexual orientation. And I get to see Blaine a lot more often with a lot less effort." He smiled again, softly, at that.

Mercedes nodded slowly, still trying to accept this new situation. She was so, so happy that Kurt was finally safe, somewhere where he could be himself without being afraid of being taunted, of being hurt, of being killed. But it hurt that he left, and that he couldn't trust his Glee friends to help him. She wanted him to come back, but she knew it was selfish. She tried to reconcile her feelings, for his sake, but it was so difficult.

"I miss you guys, though," he muttered shakily, squeezing her hand. "Already. So much. I love you, 'Cedes, I really do. I'm sorry I had to go."

She put her head down and nodded, her lips pressed into a smile to cover her sadness. "I love you too."

His thin arms pulled her into a hug, and it was so warm that she forgot, just for a moment, that things were never going to be the same.

Thank you for reading! Please review.