A/N: Just a quick thought on what will happen next episode. Contains some light spoilers for the Valentine's Day episode, and includes an off-screen suicide attempt by a minor character.
Heart-shaped balloons fell from the ceiling. Couples were quickly escaping to booths and darkened corners as Mercedes serenaded them with her version of "I Will Always Love You." Poor Whitney was now a reflexive thought for Blaine, as was the quick pang of sorrow. Poor Etta soon followed. He wrapped an arm around Kurt and squeezed. The kiss he got in return chased those thoughts away. He had missed his boyfriend, he had missed singing, and he had missed being able to laugh without worrying about his eye. Tonight, he wasn't going to miss a thing. It was going to be awesome. He nuzzled a kiss up behind Kurt's ear. Totally awesome.
Later, after things had settled to a quiet roar, Blaine, Kurt, Finn, and Tina found themselves tucked into a booth listening to Santana tell a long-winded joke. Blaine tried to hide his smile; he was waiting for the traditional Santana ending, "And that's how we do it in Lima Heights." Kurt side-eyed him in warning, but that just made things funnier. Blaine couldn't help it. She lived five doors down from his very rich grandmother, the one who was letting Blaine stay with her while he attended McKinley, and neither of whom lived anywhere near "el barrio". Blaine shrugged at Kurt helplessly and continued smiling.
Kurt simply put a hand on Blaine's leg and smirked. That, Blaine decided, was very dirty pool. Blaine took the hand and moved it further up his leg. "You were saying?" he whispered.
Kurt started to laugh and move again, but then something over Blaine's shoulders caught his attention. The hand on Blaine's leg twisted in the already skin-tight fabric, and Blaine felt a seam give. Blaine turned to see. It took him a minute before he spotted Burt Hummel, his hat in hand, craning to see over the crowd of bouncing teenagers. Blaine raised his hand to call Burt over, but Kurt jerked it back down.
"Kurt? It's just your…" The deeper lines on Burt's face, the hat, the fact that he had come to the dance at all – it hit Blaine then and he stilled. He squeezed the hand still caught under his. "It's probably nothing." Blaine tried to make himself believe it too.
Kurt, white-faced and shaking, nodded. He stood up, leaning on Blaine's shoulder for support. He didn't even need to call his dad over. Burt saw Kurt as soon as he stood up. He froze there, waiting for his dad. Blaine could see the glaze on his eyes and wondered which event Kurt was reliving. When Blaine felt tremors shaking through him, and realized that the feeling had not started with him, but were being transmitted through Kurt's hand, Blaine pulled him down into his lap. Kurt's rules about public displays of affection be damned.
"Hi guys," Burt started. He was turning his hat in his hands like a penitent seeking alms. "Can we go outside for a sec?"
"Who is it?" Kurt countered.
Burt sighed and squeezed in next to Kurt and Blaine. In trying to pull an arm around Kurt, he ended up encompassing them both. Blaine appreciated the extra warmth of that heavy hand.
"I got a call from Paul tonight. You remember…?"
"Karofsky's dad," Kurt supplied.
"Yeah," Burt pulled them in tighter. Conversation around them had stopped. Santana had wandered off looking to find a new audience, but Tina and Finn were all ears.
"What did David do?" Blaine couldn't handle the suspense. Karofsky had been better of late, more grounded, but Blaine had the memory of an elephant when it came to those who had hurt him and his. He didn't trust Karofsky, reformed or not, and he refused to leave Kurt alone with him. The fact that the two had had an entire conversation at the bar while Blaine was distracted with Sebastian drove Blaine nuts. He never suggested Scandals again, and Kurt never mentioned it. Whatever happened to Karofsky, he had earned it.
"He tried to hang himself in his basement. The rope he was using," Burt tried to rush through the story. "It must have been pretty old and it snapped. His parents found him in time," Burt assured them, but Blaine felt his stomach turn over anyway. His own thoughts ran back to middle school and darkened parking lots and playing guitar until his hands cramped. "Damnit, Karofsky," Blaine whispered.
Kurt curled tighter into Blaine, and, reflexively, Blaine pulled him in, tucking his head under Blaine's jaw. He was saying something, Blaine could feel his lips grazing his skin, but the party was too loud to make out what it was.
Tina and Finn began to fire off questions to Burt, and left Blaine and Kurt with a moment to collect themselves. Blaine squeezed Kurt even harder as he felt the tears soaking into his shoulder. "He's okay," Blaine whispered. "He's okay." The words became a metronome. "He's okay."
All the while, Blaine wished that he could feel the same depth of sadness for Karofsky that Kurt did. If one of the boys from Westerville fell down a well and disappeared, the only thing Blaine would feel would be relief. One less shadow to watch for. But Kurt, Kurt had forgiven Karofsky. How foreign and strange that sounded to Blaine. And now, Kurt was crying. There were tears in his eyes for the boy who had shoved, and kicked, and kissed, and threatened him into another school. And Blaine, Blaine didn't understand that; he could respect it, but he couldn't understand it. "He's okay. He's okay," Blaine murmured.
"Hey bud," Burt clasped a hand on Kurt's neck and leaned in. "Paul said it was okay. Do you want to go see David?"
Kurt finally pulled away from Blaine. His face was blotchy were it had rubbed against Blaine's stubble and the rough weave of his jacket. Blaine put a hand up to soothe the redness. "We don't have to go."
Kurt smiled tightly and then moved away. "Would you drive?" he asked his dad.
Burt nodded and helped Kurt climb out of the booth, his hand never far from Kurt's shoulder or the back of his neck. Blaine handed his keys over to Finn who nodded, and then he rejoined the Hummels, pulling on bulky winter coats, hats and scarves.
Tina climbed out of the booth as well and gave Kurt a hug. "He'll be okay," she promised him.
Kurt sighed softly, nodded, and hugged her back.
They broke apart then, Kurt finding Blaine's hand as they moved out the door.
"I love you," Blaine leaned in to whisper, needing for a moment, to reassure Kurt.
Kurt smiled a real, if small, smile then. His hand squeezed Blaine's so hard the bones began to grate uncomfortably. "Thank you," he told Blaine.
It was enough, then, to hold Kurt's hand as they waited for Burt to bring the truck around. "He'll be okay," Blaine tried one last time.
"Yes," Kurt agreed.