Just Us

Chapter 1

"Just hand me the wrench damnit!"

"Dad." Blaine's face began forming the frown it was all too used to.

"I don't want to hear about the boy you met in the halls!" His father cringed as he pulled away from the car. He was smeared in grease and Blaine could tell they were only making things worse for the poor Chevy's engine.

"I thought we were bonding." Blaine said innocently.

"We are." His father said sharply.

"Cooper and you used to sit at the kitchen table drinking beer and talking about his latest pursuit from the cheerleading squad when he was in high school."

"That was different." His father turned away and headed toward the trolley that held all the tools.

There was a deafening pause as Blaine accepted his father and him weren't doing this to bond.

"Because he is straight?" The frown persisted on his face and his eyes had begun to glass over with the beginning of tears. He held them adamantly back not wanting to have this man see him cry.

"Of course, because he is straight!" His father spun to him. He clenched his fists. "You would be too if we spent as much time together, but you're too busy with this choir thing."

"It's called Glee Club, Dad." Blaine turned and walked into the garage. He headed toward the fridge to distract him, so he wouldn't start crying. He briefly remembered the text he had sent Kurt when he first met him. "Courage" was all he had told him. That simple word and Kurt managed to become the strongest and bravest man Blaine had ever met. Why couldn't he be more like Kurt in that regard? What would Kurt say to him for thinking like this?

He pictured Kurt in his head wearing his Dalton blazer with a broach or something that only Kurt could wear. Kurt was pantomiming all over the place clearly trying to convince Blaine of something. He couldn't even hear the words Kurt was saying in his mind because he was so distracted by the curve of his lips. Daydream Kurt is hot. Is regular Kurt this hot? As he opened a bottle of water from the fridge he thought about it. Yes, yes he is. Blaine felt more energized. He whipped around.

"It's called Glee Club and I love it. I love it so much. I love singing Katy Perry songs at the top of my lungs while swinging my hips. I love it all. Just like I love boys and there is nothing you can do to change that. No amount of grease or engine parts will make me forget who I am." Blaine was out of breath as he glared at his father giving him a death stare from across the garage.

"I have tried to play nice Blaine." His father inched closer. "I let you change schools after you got the shit beaten out of you by the boys at your other school." He took another step, the look in his eyes made Blaine inch back. "I thought you would get the message that gay isn't okay."

"You can beat someone as much as you like but you can't change who they are inside."

"They didn't need to." Mr. Anderson was dangling the wrench in his hand as he made his way toward Blaine. "They just needed to beat it all back inside of you."

"What are you saying?" Blaine was getting more nervous with every step his father took toward him.

"I don't know what we did wrong. Maybe I let you wear too tight of pants. Maybe the budget we gave you for hair products was too high." The muscles in Mr. Anderson's arm tensed. "I'm sorry Blaine, but I'm going to do right by you."

"Dad, no!" He threw his arms over his face just fast enough to catch a blow from the wrench. His entire skeleton shook from the impact of the metal against his forearm. While his dad drew back to hit again Blaine threw an uppercut. It knocked the breath out of his dad long enough for him to throw another punch. His dad fought through and swatted at him, successfully clubbing him in the lip. Blaine's vision blackened as he began feeling himself in the gym whaling on the punching bag after a long day of being constantly mocked by his classmates. It wasn't until he was halfway down the driveway in a full sprint with his dad yelling anti-gay obscenities at him that Blaine regained consciousness. His face was warm with blood and his hands were bruised and beginning to swell but the physical pain didn't faze him as he continued running.

Blaine wasn't sure how long he had been running. It could have been hours. Or it could have been minutes. With his feet beat and red from sprinting in boat shoes, he was leaning more towards the hours mark. But it hadn't been hours. It had only been 45 minutes. The exact time it takes on foot to get to the Hummel-Hudson household. The only reason he knew was for Kurt. Blaine had once told him all the fastest ways to get to his house if Kurt ever needed him for any reason. He never really thought it would be him who needed Kurt.

He pounded on the door constantly looking over his shoulder to make sure he hadn't led his father here. What if his dad hurt Kurt? Blaine slouched over unable to breath and not just from the run over.

The door creaked as it was opened, and Blaine faced the sudden realization that the chances of Kurt answering the door were 1 in 4. He didn't have a plan at all.

"Blaine? Is that you?"

He fell to his knees. Of course, it was Kurt. He needed Kurt and Kurt was there. Kurt squatted down next to him and pulled his hands from his face.

"Oh my God Blaine. What happened?" He He He pulled him up from his knees and helped him into the house. Blaine wasn't even sure where Kurt was taking him because he hadn't opened his eyes since he fell down.

Blaine felt warmth around his hip. Then Kurt's hand pushing his hips back and his shoulders forward. He sat on Kurt's bed and tried to stop crying. There was a swipe of Kurt's hand over his hair then a whisper in his ear. "I will be right back."

It felt like forever that Kurt was gone. Blaine somewhat managed to open his eyes and look around. He had seen Kurt's bedroom before only briefly. When they were friends. When they were friends. Why did he say it like that? It was the same bedroom. Though the bed itself looked more enticing than before.

His mind was cut off as Kurt slipped back in the room. He had a bottle of aspirin tucked under his arm, a cup of water, and a flannel ice pack.

"How is it possible that you have a designer ice pack?" Blaine tried to make small talk.

"Blaine." Kurt was beyond worried. "You don't have to do that. You can tell me what happened."

All his efforts to compose himself were forgotten. The look on Kurt's face overwhelmed Blaine with both sadness and a surprising happiness to see in Kurt a trustworthy and caring friend. Just friend?

"It's my dad."

"Aren't you guys rebuilding a car together?" Kurt remembered everything Blaine told him. It was hard not to when Blaine hardly mentioned his mysterious home life.

"Yeah. Well I think he was trying to rebuild his son into someone better." Blaine dropped his head in his hands and felt a sharp pang on his temple where the wrench had landed a blow.

Kurt tipped Blaine's head up so he could clean off the blood and apply pressure with the ice pack.

"Blaine, there is no one better you could be. You are the best man I have ever met. Nothing your dad says can change who you are."

There was silence for a while as Kurt continued cleaning Blaine up and handing him the medicine and water. The pills didn't go down easy as there was already a lump in his throat.

"I thought of you." Blaine looked up into Kurt's eyes. They didn't quite meet his because he was too busy tending to the many wounds visible on Blaine's face.

"I'm glad you did. Though I'm sure the hospital would have done a better job patching you up. I still think I should take you there to make sure you don't have a concussion. Oh my God Blaine how hard did he punch you?" Kurt frowned over the cut on Blaine's eyebrow. "But, I'm worried he's out there looking for you and he wouldn't think to come here." Kurt seemed to be nervously rambling.

"No Kurt. I thought of you when he was beginning to get angry." Blaine tried to slick back his hair, but it had already come partially undone from its gel locked state. I thought of how one word made you the most powerful man I have ever met. I thought of all you have been through and how you still face every adversity with gentleness and kindness. Kurt I only thought of you. That's why I hit him."

"You hit him? I thought he just hit you." Kurt was beginning to worry that what Blaine was going through wasn't a simple dad disapproves of gay son situation.

"After he took the first swing with the wrench I blacked out. All I imagined was that he was a punching bag in the gym and I was the gay kid who was fed up with being mocked and beaten." Blaine let his head fall against Kurt's shoulder. "I didn't look back once I started running. I don't know if he is okay."

Kurt tried not to get emotional upon hearing that Blaine's father had swung at him with a wrench. It wasn't even a fair fight. Yet here Blaine was, he ran for over half an hour to get here after being beaten with a metal tool.

Kurt pulled Blaine in gently at first but when he didn't flinch, Kurt pulled him hard against his body.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that you will be okay. You are staying here tonight."

"Kurt I can't I didn't—" Blaine began to protest and even tried to get up.

"If you are going to say that don't want to intrude or something like that don't even bother. You are staying here. End of discussion." Kurt rubbed his shoulder tenderly. "Let me grab you something with less blood on it. Rust red just isn't your color."

It was one of those moments that should be grave and serious. Yet, Blaine couldn't help but laugh.

Kurt popped his head out of the closet. "Oh God are you going into hysterics?"

Blaine stood at first a little wobbly then he locked eyes with Kurt and all the tremulous bones in his body learned how to be steady. "Absolutely not. I've just come to a shocking realization."

Kurt's eyebrow popped up and his lips pursed, "And that is?"

"I need you Kurt." Blaine reached forward and took one of Kurt's hands and pulled him out of the closet. "The worst part is, I didn't even realize how much until an hour ago."

Kurt's lips curved into a smile and Blaine remembered his earlier daydream. He was still unsure what Kurt was telling him then. "I needed you when my dad attacked me, and you were there giving me strength. I needed you when I came to your door and it was you Kurt, just you." Kurt was beginning to feel tears in his eyes as Blaine continued, choked up. "I need you now and you are here. Telling me what outfit I should and shouldn't wear and providing me with a place to stay and feel safe." Blaine pulled Kurt into a smashing hug and he dug his bruised and bloodied face into Kurt's neck. "I don't need your house to feel safe. I just need you."

All of Kurt's best efforts to not be an emotional wreck were ruined as he hugged Blaine back with just as much pressure. The two men stood in Kurt's room and squeezed each other like it might fix all the broken parts of their lives.