Somewhere Only We Know
Chapter 1 - Prologue
Kurt Hummel was used to walking the hallways of high school alone by now. His only regret as he strutted his way to his locker was the fact that he had forgotten his IPod. He cursed his terrible memory for causing him to forget such an important piece of technology. That tiny IPod had become his comfort blanket in recent months, his escape from the cruelty of his peers as they threw various insults his way. On a normal day, Kurt would just turn the volume up until he could no longer hear their abusive words, but today he would just have to grit his teeth and do his best to ignore them.
Kurt kept his head down as he walked, trying to attract as little attention as possible...which was never easy as he was practically a walking target for bullies.
He began to walk faster, trying to ignore the random shouts of 'Fag!' and 'Lady boy!' and any other insults his fellow students had been inventive enough to think of on this particular Monday morning.
Kurt sighed. He hated Mondays. It was the day he had to return to his personal hell after a couple of days of escape from it all. How he longed to be able to be home schooled, or transferred to some wonderful school where the teachers actually did something about bullying. He let his mind wander to an imaginary school where he was popular, loved and admired. A school where people were not bullied or targeted because of their sexuality, or their looks. 'If only...' Kurt thought wistfully.
Kurt breathed a sigh of relief as he eventually reached his locker. He put in the code and yanked the door open, pausing as he caught sight of himself in the mirror on the back of the door.
'One day,' He thought, 'One day they will all work for me.'
Kurt was ambitious, and he was stubborn. He knew that he was destined for great things, and he knew that he was better than the bullies. He was smart, and he knew what he wanted from life.
He just couldn't wait until his school years were over and he could get started on his dreams. As far as Kurt was concerned, graduation couldn't come quickly enough. But for now, he grabbed his books and allowed himself a small smile as he thought of his future.
He spun gracefully on his heel to begin making his way to class, but before he could even fathom what was happening, it was too late.
Kurt didn't even have time to close his eyes before the ice cold chill of the slushy was making contact with his face. He gasped in shock and pain as the red dye stung his eyes, reaching up to cover his eyes with his hands and to try to wipe some of the drink from them.
"I hope you like cherry, gay boy!" A voice called out before laughing.
Kurt froze.
He would know that voice anywhere. His heart started pounding and he began to feel sick. Before he could be taunted by the owner of the voice any longer, he turned and staggered blindly towards the restroom, not even needing to open his stinging eyes as he had stumbled this exact same path so many times before.
He pushed the door open and hesitated, listening intently for any sign of life. Once he was satisfied that the coast was clear he rushed to the sink, pausing for just a second to rest his head in his hands and groan in frustration.
Kurt had taken to using the girls' bathroom for slushy removal quite some time ago, it was just so much cleaner. He was also quite sure that none of his tormentors were female, so he felt much safer that he wouldn't encounter any of them here.
Just as he was beginning his all-too-familiar routine, the bell rang to signal the start of his first class. Kurt's shoulders slumped in defeat. It looked like he would be late for class. Again.
Quickening his pace now, he gradually began to remove the red dye before it started to get too sticky. He knew from experience now that the longer it was left, the more concrete-like it became, making it almost impossible to remove.
He fished in his bag to pull out his emergency face wash and clean shirt while he ran the water to warm it up.
He yanked his ruined shirt over his head and slung it to the side, then splashed the (still) lukewarm water on his face, scrubbing in his face wash to remove all traces of slushy.
As he was still bent over the sink rinsing the remainder away, he heard the door swing open behind him. He ignored it and carried on, until the person's footsteps stopped directly behind him.
Kurt wiped the water from his eyes and looked up into the mirror. What he saw made his heart stop and his breathing become panicked. Aquamarine met hazel as he looked his main tormentor straight in the eye, this was the guy that had been making his life a living hell for the past 6 weeks.
"Hello, Blaine." Kurt said, trying to inject as much venom as possible into the greeting, noticing that Blaine had looked away and hating him for it. He willed himself to calm his breathing, the last thing he needed was to look weak.
He didn't expect Blaine to react to his hostile stance and icy glare as he stared him down. He was possibly the least intimidating person in the world as he stood there with his arms folded across his bare, pale chest with water dripping down his face.
But Blaine flinched. He, Kurt Hummel, had made Blaine Anderson flinch.
Blaine crossed his arms across his chest defensively as he looked up at Kurt. Kurt was shocked when their eyes met once again. Blaine looked terrible. Like, awful. His tired eyes looked into Kurt's and he saw only defeat.
Then he muttered the words that Kurt had thought he would never hear.
"I am so sorry, Kurt."
Chapter 2 - The Start of It All
6 Weeks Earlier...
Kurt smiled as the breeze rustled his hair. The sun was warm and pleasant on his face. It was a beautiful day at the end of summer break and he had decided that he would make the most of it while it lasted.
He had decided to go for a walk on this particular day and he had ended up at a park not too far from his house. He was in an incredibly good mood, despite the fact that, come Monday, he was going back to his own personal hell - also known as high school.
But today, Kurt didn't care. Today, he was meeting Blaine.
He smiled as he saw him in the distance sat on a park bench. He looked incredibly cool and, Kurt couldn't help but notice, incredibly attractive. His hair was so curly and so unruly that it was almost an afro, but Kurt adored his hair. He also adored the fact that Blaine was wearing bright pink sunglasses...he was such a dork.
Blaine looked up just as Kurt reached him and smiled, causing his wonderfully hazel eyes to crinkle at the corners.
"Hi." Blaine smiled.
"Hi." Kurt said, almost blown away from the effect that Blaine's smile had on his heart rate.
They had met 3 weeks previously at Kurt's favourite coffee shop and had spent almost every day since together. Kurt knew that Blaine was gay but still in the closet, and because of this had decided to take things slow. Once they went back to school they wouldn't be able to see each other much anyway. Kurt realised that he really hated the thought of not seeing Blaine every day, but he had no idea how Blaine even felt about him. He knew that he liked him, at least as a friend, but Kurt was secretly hoping that it was more than that.
It was hard to tell with Blaine. He was very...intense.
Kurt had always found it easy to talk about himself, he often joked that he was his favourite subject. Blaine seemed eager to listen, but Kurt had realised very early on that he was not willing to open up to Kurt so willingly. Kurt was aware that he knew almost nothing about the boy, but he was intrigued by him and so he made the effort to discuss only trivial things, hoping that Blaine would become comfortable and tell him more about himself later.
They sat on the bench for a while, just talking about meaningless things, but conversation seemed to come easy . At least, it did to Kurt, Blaine just happened to be a good listener.
Kurt was talking enthusiastically about Lady Gaga's latest fashion stunt when he looked at Blaine and realised that he was watching him intently.
"What are you looking at me like that for?" Kurt asked, smiling.
"I want to try something," Blaine said. "Just...close your eyes and keep still."
"Okay..." Kurt said, doing as Blaine asked and closing his eyes.
Kurt's heart began to beat wildly as he felt Blaine shift in his seat and move towards him. Kurt could sense him getting closer until he was sure he felt his breath on his face. Kurt couldn't breathe, he couldn't even think, he started to feel dizzy as he realised that, yes, that was Blaine's breath he could feel mingling with his own now...
Just as Kurt thought he would faint from holding his breath for so long, he felt Blaine gently press his lips to his.
It felt perfect.
Everything about it was perfect, from the feel of Blaine's lips on his, Blaine's rough stubble scratching Kurt's sensitive skin, the taste of Blaine as their tongues finally danced together...perfection. Kurt sighed contentedly into the kiss and Blaine moaned, a deep, guttural noise that had Kurt's stomach tying itself into knots from its sexiness.
But then it ended. Blaine moved away all too soon. Kurt opened his eyes reluctantly and looked at him, only to see horror clouding Blaine's features.
"I...I can't do this." Blaine stammered, before turning and practically running from Kurt.
Kurt hadn't heard from Blaine all weekend.
It was the longest they had gone without speaking since they had met. Even despite Kurt's calls and texts, Blaine hadn't contacted him. At all.
Kurt had given up on ever seeing Blaine again by the time Monday morning and his return to school came around.
That Monday was the first time that Kurt had seen the real Blaine Anderson.
