A.N.: I wrote this for the Kurtbastian Big Bang on livejournal, so you can either read it there (my name is raven_kerry) or here.

Huge thanks to my sister, who jumped in to beta-read for me, when none of the betas who signed up for the Kurtbastian Big Bang, who I wrote, answered the messages I sent to them. Also, kudos, hugs and thanks to Alexbly on tumblr for the wonderful art. ^^

I don't own Glee. Never have, never will.

Warnings: Abusive relationship, attempted non-con, Blaine as the bad-guy

_ooo_

Chapter One

Kurt lay on the air mattress, in the dark, looking up at the ceiling of Brittany's room. They had spent all evening bedazzling it with glow-in-the-dark stars. His arms and fingers were a bit tired from all the work but, looking up at it now, he was glad he'd participated.

Brittany had seen the glow-in-the-dark stars when they had been out shopping with some of the other girls earlier that day in the mall and had decided that she wanted to have some on her ceiling. It had been his idea to try and recreate the night sky and its constellations. Brittany had had some difficulties at first but, soon after he'd corrected the way she was holding the star map and done a few as examples, she'd caught on.

Unfortunately, only Santana had been free to help them out. The other girls had all had plans. With only three people working on it, it had taken long into the night, causing a spontaneous sleep-over. Brittany's dad had inflated their air mattress for him while they had been working. Brittany and Santana were more than happy to share their bed.

Breaking the silence, Brittany whispered, "It's beautiful. Thank you, both of you. I have my very own night sky now, right here in my bedroom."

Kurt smiled. "Anytime, Britt."

Brittany sighed. "It's been a while since we've been able to do this. You know: sleep over and stuff."

Kurt frowned. "What do you mean? We do it all the time."

Santana cut in, "Porcelain, tell me: when's the last time you participated in a sleepover with us? I want a date. Pronto. Because, unless I'm missing something, you've always been off with your gay hobbit. You've been ignoring us girls."

"But, just a few weeks ago, I'm sure that Rachel slept over…"

"As if I'd go to a sleepover with man-hands! I get enough of her at school. I don't need to torture myself more than that. I'm no masochist."

Brittany added, "Rachel and Blaine have been taking up all your time. I've missed my dolphin."

"But…" Kurt cut in.

Brittany continued, "You were a unicorn again today. You lost your shiny horn and were made up out of rainbows for so long. Will you stay a unicorn or will you go back to just being a rainbow?"

Kurt blinked. "Uh, Brittany, I'm not sure I follow you."

Santana retorted, "If you'd been spending any time with Britt lately, you'd understand her. You used to be able to."

Kurt closed his eyes, a stab of pain shooting through his heart at the harsh words. Santana was right. He had lost most of his grasp on Britt-speak. And the realization hurt. He cared for the girl.

Brittany tried to explain herself, "You don't shine like you used to, Kurt. Since you left McKinley, your shine has been growing dimmer. I'm worried about you. I've wanted to tell you that for a while now, but we were never alone. You aren't my dolphin anymore."

Kurt replied calmly, "Britt, just because I've been growing up…"

Santana interrupted, "Lady Lips, let me put it into words you understand. A year ago, you would have left New Directions to be with us Troubletones."

Kurt frowned, "But… isn't the group only females? Noah said something about you only accepting female members."

"As if we'd let him in. He just wanted the eye candy. You, on the other hand, are an honorary girl. We'd let you in in a heartbeat."

"But Blaine…"

"I don't like Blaine," Brittany commented. "He took away your shine so he could shine brighter."

Santana added, "And don't forget how he stole your role as Tony. You needed it. He didn't."

"He didn't mean to," Kurt protested.

"Now, listen here, Teen Gay. I know you don't want to hear it, but I've had enough of your rose tinted glasses. That hobbit is no good for you. Ever since he came into your life, you stopped fighting. You let him and Man-Hands walk all over you. He's a manipulative little shit, but Auntie 'Tana has seen through him. Didn't you have a fight with him just before he decided that he loved you?"

"Well, yeah: I was tired of him hogging the spotlight…"

"Has he stopped doing that?"

"He did a duet with me for Regionals…"

"Oh, so he took pity on you to share a little of his spotlight with you. He decided to deign to give you a little hint of something more so you'd think that he was toning it down a little. He only had to let you accompany him in one song to make you think that he cared, to make sure that his number one fan wouldn't leave him. He liked your attention and, the moment it wavered, he did whatever he could to make sure it stayed on him."

"Santana, you aren't being fair to him. The counsel was the ones who handed out the solos. I mean, okay, so Blaine suggested the duet, but they had to agree to it first."

"Yeah, he had to have a few guys agree to it. From what you've told us, they were eating out of the palm of his hand long before you came along. Whatever Blaine wanted, he got it, except one thing: he didn't go to Nationals, but we did. He wasn't coming here for you, Kurt. He was coming here for better opportunities in Glee club. Why leave a place where everyone practically worships you, if not for better opportunities?"

"But he told me that he wanted to face the real world. He told me that Dalton was too sheltered. And he's been in hiding since the Sadie Hawkins dance thing."

Santana sneered, "One would think that, if something like that happened, it would have ended up in the newspaper. Newspapers love to run articles like that. It's like their bread and butter. Westerville isn't that far away. How is it that no one has ever heard about this event taking place before? How is it that there are no newspaper articles of it online or in the library?"

"Because it was a gay bashing and it happened in Ohio?"

"Still would have ended up in the newspaper or online somewhere. I even went to check in Westerville and found a big fat nothing. As a matter of fact, I made that computer geek, what's-his-name, that we both have AP Trig with, hack into Blaine's school records. He went from one prep school to the next. He was never in a public school before."

"But… I.. Santana! You can't do that! Why…?"

"I had to make sure that he was worthy of our Porcelain. Believe me, though: I haven't dug up half the amount of dirt on him that Coach Sylvester has. I only barely convinced her to let me talk to you first before she got rid of him."

"She can't…!"

"You'll have to take that up with her. If you don't want her to, then you'd probably get ready to join the Cheerios again. It would look good on your college application, you know: National Cheerleading winner – twice over."

Kurt blinked, "I actually didn't even think of that."

"That's what you have Auntie Snixx for, Lady Lips."

Brittany added, "It would be wonderful to cheer with you again. Then you could be happy again."

Kurt frowned, "Boo, I am happy. I swear."

"Swearing is bad. You shouldn't do that. And you aren't. I've seen your unhappy face."

"I'm just worried about college," Kurt sighed. "What if they don't take me?"

Santana snorted, "Not take you? Are you serious? The old Hummel wouldn't let himself worry about that. He'd blow everyone away with a new solo. Where are you applying for other than NYADA?"

Kurt blinked. "Nowhere. Rachel said…"

"Are you crazy?" Santana cut in. "You're letting Man-Hands dictate something to you? Tomorrow we're going to look for alternative schools."

"But I want to go to New York…"

"Fine, we'll look in New York. There's bound to be more than just NYADA for you. And what about going into fashion? Your prom outfit was fabulous."

Kurt smiled and wistfully replied, "Yeah, it was. It was so much fun putting that together." His voice grew slightly hoarse. "Even if it made people vote for me as prom queen…" He trailed off and swallowed hard. "By the way, Britt: something I've been wondering; why did you decide to run against me for Senior Class President?"

Brittany answered morosely, "I didn't want to at first, but it hurt that you were ignoring me and not taking my ideas into account – and I was only trying to help you too. Then I was putting together some college applications with Santana and my grades were so bad – except in math – that I got really sad. Santana told me that, if I become class president, they might overlook the bad grades. She said that they might decide that it was because I was doing too much on the side. If you really want, I guess I could make you my vice president instead of 'Tana. Or," her voice grew more cheerful, "I can make both of you my vice presidents! Then I don't have to choose!"

Kurt raised an eyebrow, "Uh, Britt, I'm not sure you can have more than one vice president."

"Well, why not? I'll be president. Therefore, I get to decide. If I want you to both be my vice presidents, then you will be."

Kurt smiled. "Okay, boo, we'll make sure to get it through somehow or at least give it our best."

"So, is my happy unicorn back again now? Will you be joining the Troubletones with us?"

"I'm not sure. I mean, there's Blaine and there's the fact that, if I leave, they'll be two people short of competing… and I have to live with Finn and I'd never hear the end of it and…"

Santana cut in, "I'll help you get a solo at Sectionals."

Kurt hesitated. "I'll think about it, okay? I don't want to make any rash decisions."

"By the way, why aren't you hanging out with gel-helmet tonight? I thought you two were joined at the hip."

"Oh, he's planning on heading to Dalton early tomorrow morning to invite the Warblers to the West Side Story production so he wanted to get to bed early. The Warblers have a practice session first thing this Saturday, to train in some of the newbies, and he doesn't want to miss it. I 'll be meeting him at the Lima Bean afterwards."

Kurt heard one of the girls yawn and found himself yawning in response. Brittany softly said, "I'm tired and I want to sleep under my new sky."

Kurt opened his eyes to look at the ceiling. "Then we should sleep now. The stickers are already starting to dim a bit."

Brittany was startled as she sat up, "They're dimming? Does that mean they'll lose their light? They're losing their shine?"

Kurt huffed, a smile teasing his lips. "Don't worry, Britt. It's only temporary. They need to soak up the light around them in order to shine."

"Then I don't like them. They're just like Blaine and Rachel."

"Think about it this way, boo: they soak up the light when there's lots of it so that they can give it back later when it's really dark. They're saving the light for later."

"Oh, I guess that's okay then, if they're giving the light back. Will you take your light back from Blaine?"

Santana cut in, "What she means, Porcelain, is if you're going to break up with him."

Kurt shook his head. "Not now. I'll give him another chance. I…" he paused. "I love him. Even if he's been lying to me, I really do love him and I believe that he loves me, too. I know it sounds bad, but… I can't just break up with him. He means too much to me."

Santana's voice lost its sarcasm and snarkiness for a moment. "Okay, Kurt, but keep your eyes open. Don't be blind and, if anything happens, anything at all, tell me. I'll go all Lima Heights on his ass."

Kurt smiled. "Thanks, 'Tana. You're not really that bad when you let people in."

Santana sniffed. "And I'll deny it to my dying day."

Brittany gasped, "Are you dying, Santana?"

"No, Britt, I'm not. Don't worry. I'm fine. Now, let's go to sleep. Good night."

"Night 'Tana, night unicorn."

Kurt added, "Sleep well, guys."