Warning: Mentions of child neglect and abuse.

There was once a boy who never wore shoes when he went to the park. His feet were red, a dark red on those long summer days.

Kurt walked up to the boy, looking at his big shirt and small pants. The boy with red feet had curly hair and nice eyes. He looked up at Kurt, since Kurt was taller than him. The boy didn't smile, his dark curls flopping into his eyes. Kurt pointed to the boy's feet.

"Why are you not wearing any shoes?" Kurt looked to his own shoes, nice white sneakers. The boy shrugged, kicking the blades of grass with his bare feet. Kurt kicked the grass too, but he didn't feel the blades like the other boy did.

"My name's Blaine." The boy spoke, quietly, "What's yours?"

"Kurt." Kurt grinned, at the boy. "I like that name. Blaine."

Blaine smiled back, the sun making his brown iris's golden. "I like the name Kurt. It's pretty."

Kurt looked over by the swings, before holding his hand out to Blaine. "Wanna swing?"

Blaine tentatively took the hand, and let Kurt drag him over to the swings. Blaine winced when his feet touched the mulch. Kurt looked over, before seeing the blistering red feet. He called out, "Mom! Mom help!"

Emily Hummel saw her boy holding another young boys hand, and she quickly walked to them. Kurt pointed to Blaine's feet. Emily smiled at the boy. The curly haired boy, however, looked down, not making eye contact.

Kurt exclaimed, "His feet are really red. What do we do, Mom?" Emily looked at Blaine.

"Kurt, what's your friend's name?"

Kurt looked at his mother, then to Blaine. "His name is Blaine."

Emily nodded, "Blaine," She went down to his level, "Mind if I look at your feet?"

Blaine shook his head, not opening his mouth to answer. He didn't like adults. He didn't know when they'd hurt him. They hurt him a lot though- mostly his mom and dad. Kurt's seemed nice, but so did his parents. Until they weren't so nice.

Emily told Blaine to sit down. Blaine sat, and let her look at his feet. She frowned.

"Blaine, why are you not wearing any shoes in this weather?" Blaine mumbled, incoherently. Emily raised an eyebrow, before soothingly saying, "Blaine, you can tell me."

"I don't have any shoes to wear."

Blaine and Kurt became friends after a few days. Kurt would see Blaine, sitting on the swings, wearing a pair of Kurt's old shoes. He still wore the same big shirt, and the same small pants. Blaine would come when it wasn't too hot, and when he did, he was always there before Kurt.

Kurt and Blaine would play Peter Pan. Kurt was always Peter Pan, because he was taller and always wanted to try doing new things. Blaine was a Lost Boy; he liked following Kurt. It also meant that he didn't have to talk a lot, or try new things. He did was Kurt did.

Emily would watch Blaine and Kurt play, seeing how tentative Blaine was. Kurt, however, didn't notice. It was just the way Blaine acted, shy and oddly polite for an eight year old. One day, Emily bought the boys ice cream when the truck came by. Blaine bought the smallest item, and didn't eat it till Emily said he could. And when he ate the ice cream, he took small bites.

Kurt and Blaine played till Blaine didn't show up anymore.

"Where'd he go?" Kurt asked Emily. Emily shrugged. "I don't know, Kurt, I don't know."

One day, a pair of shoes was left on the swing. On the swing was a note, in messy eight year old handwriting.

I'm on an awfully big adventure. Dad told me it was time to go.

"Oh no!" Kurt exclaimed. Emily tried to think of the quote, and what it meant. Kurt, though, knew what it meant right away.

"Mommy, he's going to die! To die would be an awfully big adventure. Peter Pan told us so!" Emily nodded, sharply. She was insanely worried now. "Kurt, has Blaine told you any secrets?"

Kurt hesitated. Emily knew Blaine had told him something.

"On one big adventure, I asked him why he didn't have any shoes. He said his dad never got him any. He said his dad gets mad a whole lot. And he said he didn't have a lot of clothes. And when his dad gets mad, he does," Kurt's voice lowered, "Very bad things to him."

Emily bent down to Kurt's level. "Honey, what kind of things?"

Kurt looked around, blushing profoundly. Emily rephrased her question.

"Is it a good touch, or a bad touch?" Kurt whispered, "Bad." in reply.

"Where your bathing suit covers?"

Kurt nodded, before adding onto his statement. "One day, he showed me his tummy. It was all bruised up. He said his Dad took him on adventures, but they weren't fun like ours. They made him cry and hurt. He was so little, Mommy, like my thumb." Kurt stuck out his thumb, as if to show how small Blaine was.

Emily nodded, "Kurt, we are going home. Daddy and I are going to try to find Blaine, okay?"

Kurt nodded, his voice tight, "But, he's on an awfully big adventure."

"Then we'll go on an even bigger one." Emily stated, and the two swiftly left for home.

Kurt remembers screaming one day, "DAD! DAD! BLAINE'S ON THE NEWS!"

Burt and Emily ran to the television, seeing a small curly hair boy on the news. His face was covered in bruises, and he was crying. He looked sick and scared and hopeless, and the sight broke Emily's heart.

He was still wearing that shirt, and she could see the house behind him. It was rather small, and not well kept. Blaine stood in front, crying; someone tried to take him away from the scene, away from the camera. He screamed, afraid.

"I'm here at Westpoint Road, at the scene of child abuse and neglect, here in Lima, Ohio…"

Burt snatched the car keys, kissing Emily on the cheek. Kurt put on his shoes, "Daddy, wait!"

"Kurt, I have to go!" Burt exclaimed. Kurt shook his head, "Wait!" Before darting into his room.

When Kurt returned, he had a pair of shoes. Blaine's pair of shoes.

And a note.

"Can you give this to him, Dad?" Kurt asked, with big eyes. Burt nodded, going to the site.

Months later, a package came in the mail. It was Blaine's pair of shoes.

And two notes. One was the one Kurt had written Blaine. It read:

Please don't leave! I'd miss you if you went on that big of an adventure.

The other one was from Blaine. It read:

I have to go with my new family. The next time we see each other, it'll be a big adventure. I promise you that.

Alrighty, what I'm going to say is, this literally broke my heart, snapped it into two. It's based off the quote used from Peter Pan, and the mental image of Blaine's red feet from running to the park. I hope you all liked it. This was written for Jaime, whom I dunno where I'd be without her3 Thanks for reading!

If you review, I'll love you. Forever. And a day.

Like a boss.

-Madi