4.

Brittany was twelve, at cheerleading camp, the first time. He told her he was an alien, and she was so desperate for this not to be happening that she believed him. After all, if it was just probing, it wasn't so bad. She convinced herself of that every time he came back that week, and the week after. Kurt was eleven, and he had just started private violin lessons. He didn't know what was happening until it was too late, and he was terrified to tell his father, convinced that it was his own fault for thinking the boys in his class were cuter than the girls. He begged his father to let him drop the lessons, and Burt only insisted he keep it up for a month before allowing him to stop going. It was two years later that he met Brittany in dance class, a group class, the only kind he would go to anymore so that he would never be alone with the teacher. They were still young enough that they could sense the similarities in one another instinctively. Kurt didn't make friends, and Brittany didn't like playing with boys. Burt Hummel and Lisette Pierce were both shocked when they arrived at the studio after the third class and found the pair sitting on the curb outside, giggling, as Kurt braided Brittany's hair and Brittany chattered on about cats. It was another two months before they convinced each other to tell their parents what happened. Kurt had got online and looked up facts and stories. They needed to tell their parents, because they were too young to get tested for anything without their parents' permission. Kurt needed to know his best friend wasn't going to die like his mom did. Brittany needed the same confirmation. They asked their parents if they could go for a ride and talk. Lisette and Burt, who had come to know each other well in the time their children had grown close, shared a confused look, then agreed. Kurt and Brittany held hands tightly when they told the two adults what had happened to them. Burt looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel, and Lisette was bawling. Both swore vengeance, and were surprisingly graphic about their plans for the assistant coach and teacher. In the end, it was Brittany and Kurt who forced them to calm down when they demanded that the parents take them to "get tested". That drove home the point. Since they were both minors, their names were never released to the public, and neither of the two ever told anyone else. (Brittany joked about it exactly once with Santana, and when Santana rolled her eyes, Britt smiled that daffy smile, then went to Kurt's house and cried the rest of the night.) Their story was national news, two sexually abused kids who had found each other and insisted their best friend tell someone. No one ever made the connection between those brave children and the best friends. It had been too long for the police to find the evidence they needed, at first. But, as in most similar cases, once the names of the accused were made public, others came forward to admit they too had been victims. Both men's computers were seized, and the child pornography that was found was enough to send them away for most of the rest of their lives. Then the police found pictures the assistant coach had taken. Some of the pictures were of Brittany. And Kurt had chlamydia, the same strain for which the violin teacher had been treated two years previous. It was enough. The evidence piled up and the witnesses kept coming, and their attackers were put in jail, without possibility of parole. Kurt had to take pills, but he was declared STD-free within the month. The court recommended they receive counseling, but they refused to go alone. It took a few weeks, and Lisette asked for help or suggestions from her friend Doctor Lydia Lopez, who swore it would remain a secret, causing them to finally find the therapy group Kurt and Brittany had been going to ever since. It was held at a local in-patient, out-patient facility for children and teens. They could have stopped coming several years ago now, they knew. But they continued to come because they were determined to help others the way they'd been able to help one another. If they could support even one person through their recovery from the trauma, they would consider it worthwhile. Now they only came every two weeks, and they did their best to be careful and friendly with all the other patients. Everyone liked them, one way or another, but it wasn't until Sarah that they decided to sing for the group.