Once again, I am astounded at the response this is getting. Seriously, thank you to each and every one of you. Also, I'm really glad you all love Momma Anderson as much as I do. She's probably my favorite original character I've ever written.

Anyway. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It's the longest one yet, so there's that. Continue onward. : )

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee nor anything else you may recognize.

Blaine does not want to be here. He does not want to be in this stupid room with these stupid police officers. He just wants to be back with Kurt. He misses his boyfriend already.

"Mr. Anderson, how long have you known Kurt?" She seems nice enough, he decides.

"Uhm…since the beginning of October."

"And how did you meet him?"

Blaine smiles fondly, "He was going to McKinley at the time. We were going to be competing against them at Sectionals for show choirs in a few months, so Kurt decided to come spy on us. Even though I knew from the moment I saw him that he wasn't a new student like he said, I, I'll admit, thought he was gorgeous, so I took him to the place we were performing in, and might as well have serenaded him. Afterwards, I took him to the coffee shop on campus to talk to him with a few of my friends. But when he asked about being gay and our no bullying policy, I had them leave. I knew right then that he was being bullied at his school, and I knew he wouldn't want them around when we talked about it. The thing is, I went through the same thing at my old school. I knew how he was feeling. I didn't want to talk about it back then, especially with people who just didn't understand. Turns out, we connected right away, and he started talking. We became fast friends. I felt a need to help him, protect him, mentor him, even."

"You were bullied at your school before you went to Dalton?"

"Yeah, for being gay. There's a lot of homophobes in Ohio, detective. And they don't take kindly to being around gay people."

The man looks at him, "What did Kurt tell you about the bullying?"

"He told me it was getting worse. Some guy was shoving him into lockers, intimidating him more than anyone else, calling him terrible names."

"Who was this 'guy'?"

"Dave Karofsky. He's on the football team at McKinley."

"Did you tell Kurt anything in return?" It's the woman. He doesn't understand what this has to do with anything, but he answers.

"I told him to have courage."

"I see. And what happened after that?"

"I would send him text messages, voice mails, call him, reminding him to have courage. He took my advice one day, but it didn't turn out too well."

"What do you mean?"

"Karofsky. He shoved Kurt into the lockers, and instead of brushing it off, he ran after him. Cornered him in the locker rooms and confronted him, said everything he'd been holding inside. And Karofsky just…he…" Blaine hates this story.

"He what? Beat him up? Left him alone? What happened?" Detective Moore is getting anxious. Blaine's hands ball into fists.

"He kissed him. Dave Karofsky, biggest homophobic, pea-brained, football jock douche bag was actually a closeted gay kid. At least, in terms of Kurt."

The eyes of the detectives widen. He supposes they haven't heard this story yet.

"So, he had feelings for Kurt that weren't reciprocated?"

"I guess you could say that."

"What happened after that?"

"Kurt called me sobbing. I was so furious. I skipped school the next day and went to McKinley to help Kurt with Karofsky. We didn't get through to him. After that, he only escalated. Got to the point where he threatened to kill Kurt if he told anyone about the locker room, so he and his parents agreed that coming to Dalton was the safest option for him. He had to get away from all of that."

Detective Moore eyes his partner, writes something down, then looks back to Blaine. He feels uncomfortable and impatient.

"So, you and Kurt were pretty close by then, yes?"

"Of course. We related to each other in a different way than we could relate to anyone else. We became best friends."

"How long did it take for you to fall in love with him?" Detective Jackson asked softly. Blaine smiles as if remembering something too far out in the distance for him to grasp.

"Detective, I fell in love with Kurt the moment I turned and saw him on those stairs at Dalton. Granted, I'm an idiot. I didn't realize how much I love him until the middle of February."

"That's when you started dating?"

"Yes."

"How was your relationship with Kurt, son?"

At this, Blaine is positively beaming.

"It was the best thing to ever happen to me. Every day was something new. We always learned new things about each other. I fell more in love with him every single day. He makes me happier than anyone or anything else in the world."

"How long ago did you dump him?" This guy was much too blunt.

"2 and a half weeks ago."

"Why? If your relationship was so perfect, then why did you dump him and leave him heartbroken? Was he taking too long to put out? Was that it? Were you just sick of sitting around waiting for him to drop his pa-"

"You shut the hell up. Don't you dare talk about him like that." He is absolutely furious. His fingernails are digging into the palms of his hands. He can't think or see clearly, "I love Kurt. I love him more than I think I realize sometimes. I don't give a damn about sex, as much as you seem to think I do. All I care about is him and what will make him happy. Kurt and I agreed as soon as we started dating that neither one of us was ready for something like that, that we were going to wait. Now some bastard has stolen that from him, and he's never going to have the chance to make that choice. I can't change that now. But I love him, he loves me, and that's what's important about in our relationship. That's what I care about."

When Blaine finishes, his palms are bleeding in small crescent moons, and it takes him a full minute of deep breathing before he's calm enough to sit back down in his chair. The two detectives look at one another. This was not the reaction Detective Moore was expecting to get out of a teenage boy. He remembers being one. Everything was about sex to him. But this seventeen-year-old kid's reaction was more honest than anything he's seen that day. He clears his throat. Detective Jackson looks at him again, then steps in.

"Kurt was very lucky to have you. But I do wonder, why did you break up?" She's gentle, as though placating a child. Blaine hates this more than ever.

"I got scared. Kurt had been seeing me every single day for months. When he started going to McKinley again, he reconnected with all his other friends. I got scared and worried that being so far away all the time would make Kurt stop loving me. People don't generally stick around much. And Kurt is so absolutely incredible that I was sure he'd find someone better. Someone so much better than me because I'm really nothing special. I guess I didn't really give him much credit."

"And did he?"

"Did he what?"

"Find someone else?"

"No. Kurt and I are already back to where we should be, Detective, and I'm not going anywhere this time."

"When Kurt transferred back to McKinley, did he tell you about the bullying?" It's that tool of a cop, and Blaine considers not answering. But he thinks of Kurt and how he needs him.

"Yes."

"What did he tell you?"

"He told me that the guys in Glee club and Santana were keeping an eye on him as much as they could. Finn went to school with him and made sure he got to his car safely afterward- if he had football. Otherwise, he'd just go home with him. There was usually at least one of them with him between classes, during all free time. He said he hated being treated like such a baby, but I could tell he appreciated it. But he also told me about what would happen on the off-chance he was alone."

"And what was that?"

Blaine takes a deep, calming breath.

"It was worse than before. There were times when he was just slusheed or shoved into a locker or called a name. But then…then there were the times he'd get his tires slashed or get beaten up. A few football guys or hockey jocks, sometimes the whole team and sometimes just one guy would bash his head into a locker, throw punches, kick him while he was one the ground completely helpless. There's a few too many designer pieces in his wardrobe now ruined with bloodstains."

Detective Jackson swallows, "Was there anyone who was worse or more aggressive than the others?"

He nods.

"Surprisingly enough, it wasn't Karofsky. I guess the Glee guys didn't take too kindly to him forcing Kurt out of McKinley. Scared him off. He barely looked at Kurt anymore, much less harassed him. This time, it was mostly Ryan Stewart. He's on the football team and the hockey team. He always seemed to be leading the charge, he'd even go after Kurt when it was just the two of them," realization seemed to dawn on the teen at this moment, "Oh my…he probably did this, didn't he? I knew what he was doing to Kurt, I could've stopped this. I should've-"

"Blaine, there's nothing you could've done. This guy, whomever he is, was going to get Kurt alone at some point. His injuries and the crime itself shows extreme amounts of pent up aggression. He was going to find some way to make this happen. There was nothing you could have done," she's trying to help.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

Blaine looks up, eyes dark.

Immediately, the air becomes thick and awkward.

"That should be enough for right now, Mr. Anderson. We'll let you know if we have any more questions. And if you think of anything else, let us know," he hands Blaine a card. Immediately, he leaves the room.

He needs to get back to Kurt.

Now.

"So. I suppose it's not the boyfriend," Detective Moore comments.

"Slash DA's son."

"Uhm, Wes, right?" Burt feels awkward.

The Asian kid looks up from his cell phone.

"Uh, yeah. Hey, Mr. Hummel. Do you…need something?"

David looks between the two of them. He's confused.

"This is kind of a strange question, but how's Blaine been the past few weeks? I'm worried about him. This is hitting him harder than anyone."

"Blaine…he hasn't been doing so well. Ever since Kurt went back to McKinley he's been in the biggest rut. He doesn't want to sing, doesn't pay too much attention in class. He goes to school, the goes to his dorm, and sulks. I'm glad they got back together because I was about to force them."

Burt nods, slowly. He takes his baseball cap off, rubs his head, then replaces it. He looks at Wes.

"I need you to be honest with me, kid."

Wes nods. He's worried.

"Is Blaine going to be okay?"

The boy is quiet. He thinks, considers. He sighs.

"I hope so, Mr. Hummel. I really, really hope so."

Blaine is tired. He's exhausted. He's fuming. And never is he ever going to associate with the cops again. But when he starts to enter his boyfriend's hospital room, he can't help but grin at the sight. He leans against the doorframe, arms crossed across his broad chest as he watches his mother and his boyfriend laughing together. His mom's hair is down, her designer shoes forgotten on the ground, feet pulled up underneath her. Kurt has life in his eyes, an immense amount of life. The scene is beautiful.

Kurt feels his eyes on him and blushes. He always does when he catches Blaine's eyes on him, studying him, looking at him like he can see everything inside of him. It's that look that reveals he can see so much more than anyone else can.

Blaine's mom looks up and grins at him as he walks over and places a kiss on both their cheeks.

"What's so funny?" he asks. The two share a look, and Kurt bursts into giggles again. Evelyn looks at him with a devious smirk.

"I was just telling Kurt about that time at your Aunt Harriet's birthday part when you were nine, and you decided that it would be a really good idea to sit…on the cake. Because you thought it was a crime that it didn't even have a topper."

Blaine stares at her for a moment, then his eyes widen.

"I always knew you were a terrible, horrible, vindictive mother deep down," Blaine states, his face completely bright red. Evelyn feigns injury for a moment, but Kurt shoots her a look and the two of them burst into laughter again. Blaine buries his face in his hands with a groan, but as he recalls being that nine-year-old kid again, he can't help but join in, laughing harder than he has in the past three weeks.

It's moments like these that he cherishes.

It is 11:53 pm when the two detectives came back in to the waiting room. Burt and Carole stand to greet them.

"We've spoken to everyone necessary for today. Tomorrow, we plan on talking to any of his friends that might have any information, and we were wondering if you could provide us a list of who might know anything. It would help us immensely in our investigation," Detective Jackson explains. Burt nods.

"Finn? Puck? Could you come here for a minute?" he calls. The two of them come over and give the detectives the names of Kurt's friends at McKinley, and Wes and David do the same for Dalton Academy.

"We advise you all to head home now. You've been here all day, and you look exhausted. We'll keep in touch," she says with a small smile.

The two leave with the shakes of hands.

The remaining six exchange glances.

"I think the police are right. We should all head home, get some rest. Kurt will be okay for the night," Carole suggests. It takes Burt a moment, but he eventually agrees.

"Can I…before we go, do you think I could talk to him? Just for a second?" It's Puck who poses the question.

"Yeah, Puck. Go on back. It's room 203," Burt answers. The kid nods and leaves through the door. Finn is, surprisingly enough, the only one not confused. He simply shrugs, then offers a wave to the woman who enters into the room. She looks much more drained that she did when she came, but she waves back. She says something to the woman at the desk who glares, says something back, but quickly seems to apologize at the response she gets and picks up the phone.

Ms. Anderson comes to join the group.

"It's amazing the kind of power the title of DA has," she comments with a distinct air of nonchalance.

Finn admires her more by the second.

"Blaine will be staying with Kurt tonight, Mr. Hummel. As his attorney, I don't think it's very smart for him to be alone, and Blaine seems like the best bet to stay with him. I've worked it all out with the hospital, so don't worry about anything. I think it's best if you head home for the night. There's not much you can do right now," It's the lawyer side of her talking, that much is obvious.

"We're just waiting on Puck, and then we're going to go ahead and go. Thank you again for everything, Evelyn. This means so much,' Carole is tearing up again, and Evelyn simply nods.

"It's the very least I can do."

Noah Puckerman awkwardly clears his throat. The two boys tangled up in each other on the bed look up. Puck inhales sharply at the bruises on Kurt's face, all the machines he's hooked up to, the bandage on his head. He can't believe someone did this to him.

"Hey Hummel," he smirks, hands shoved into the front pockets of the jeans he hastily threw on this morning. Kurt is confused. Blaine looks at Puck carefully.

"I'm gonna give you two a minute. I'll be right back, baby," he kisses his temple, climbs off the bed, and pats Puck's shoulder as he leaves, closing the door gently behind him.

"Finn called me this morning. Told me some punkass kid…" Puck trails off, "I just wanted to make sure you were doing aright."

This is the most vulnerable Kurt has ever seen Noah, aside from the day Beth was born. He doesn't feel like lying, so he settles for a short shrug.

"I'm so sorry I let this happen, man. I should've been there, should've stopped him. I swear, as soon as you tell me who it was, they're gone, Kurt. They're never going to hurt you again." He's so angryfrustratedworriedscared, and he called him Kurt for the first time. His eyes soften.

"I used to be such a douche to you. Now I look at you lying here in a hospital bed, and all I wanna do is bash this dude's face in. How'd we get here?" There's a smirk playing on his lips. Kurt chuckles and offers another shrug, this one playful. They sit in silence for a moment before Kurt motions him forward. He then slowly wraps his arms around the huge football jock's torso, who responds by sliding his arms around his shoulders. They hug tightly for a few moments, Kurt inhaling this recently familiar scent, silently thanking Puck, and Puck letting his guard down for enough time to actually feel. He closes his eyes and forces himself to keep the tears at bay.

Slowly, reluctantly, they let go. They look at one another, an understanding passing easily between them. Puck nods, smiles a genuine smile, then walks to the door. He pauses and turns back to Kurt with his hand on the doorknob.

"Remember, no one messes with my boy. You give me a name, He gets a burial site in the desert."

Kurt grins and nods. Puck nods back once and leaves.

Immediately, he's met by Blaine.

"Thanks for taking care of my boy, hobbit," he says.

"Anytime, Noah."

When Puck returns, the room has three less people.

"Blaine's mom, Wes, and David already left," Finn comments. The exhaustion is dripping from his voice.

"You guys didn't need to wait," Puck says. Carole smiles.

"I know," she wraps an arm around her husband's waist, then the group heads out of the hospital, trying desperately to believe it'd only been a day.

"Your family probably left, but mom got the hospital to let me stay the night. I swear, when she has her lawyer self turned on, she can get anyone to do anything," Blaine says as he reenters the room. Without Blaine asking, Kurt slides over to make enough room for his boyfriend to snuggle up next to him. He molds to fit the shape of his companion, sighing in contentment as he lets his head rest on his shoulder. Even though he's sitting in a hospital room after the worst moment of his entire life, he is perfectly content curled up next to his best friend as he flips through the channels on the TV.

"Oh, look what we heave here. Lifetime Movie Network- my favorite guilty pleasure."

Kurt chuckles. His boyfriend loves these movies way too much. He can't count the number of Friday nights he's spent curled up with Blaine and a bowl of popcorn with a Lifetime movie on the TV screen. He likes that Blaine is letting him pretend, at least for a moment, that things are normal. He settles down and revels in the feel of Blaine's breath on the top of his head, his distinct smell in his nose, and his fingers, rubbing delicate circles on his hip. He lets his eyes slip closed to the sound of quiet singing mixing with the sounds of a movie he's probably already seen.

He's fairly certain he could stay here forever.

Evelyn Anderson kicks her heels off immediately as she steps into her hotel room. She had offered one to Wes and David as well, but they chose to stick out the hour and a half drive and get back to Dalton. She simply couldn't drive back to her home. Even though it was only an hour's drive away from Lima, her brain was too full. She couldn't get the image of a broken Kurt curled up next to her barely-holding-himself-together son out of her head. The more she saw them together, the more her heart hurt. Her mind was consumed, trying desperately to think of how in the world Kurt must feel at that moment, what it must have been like for him. Thinking about what he must have been going through when it happened…

She rushes to the bathroom and is sick all over again.

Puck opts out of going home for the night and crashes with Finn in his room. He comes out of the bathroom and looks at his best friend, who's sitting on the edge of the bed staring into space.

"Finn, man. What's up?"

"I can't stop thinking about it."

"About what?"

"Kurt. Seeing him in that front hallway. Waiting for him to be okay. Watching him with Blaine. This guy destroyed him, Puck. The only person he feels totally okay around is Blaine. I just hate this. I mean, why Kurt? Why my brother?"

There's a short silence.

"I don't know why. But Finn, Kurt's a tough kid. He's going to pull through this. And whoever did this is going to pay for it. He'll be okay, man," Puck says. Finn looks up.

"Really? You really think he'll be alright?"

Finns eyes are wide, full of hope. He's such a kid sometimes.

"Yeah, Finn. I really think so."

"Carole?" Burt whispers into the darkness. He just can't sleep. His wife rolls over and halfway sits up, cheek resting in her hand.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. For today. I couldn't have done that without you."

"Burt, honey, of course. We're a family now. I wouldn't have been anywhere else."

He nods, "I just…I don't know what to do. I keep seeing Kurt as a five-year-old kid eating his Cheerios in the morning or as an eight-year-old, crying at his mother's funeral. These images of the first time he tied his shoes or the first car we fixed up together, even the day he finally told me he's gay. I could never love him more, Carole," there's a short pause, "Should I have seen this coming? When I held my son in my arms for the first time, was I supposed to know that this is where he'd end up?"

"Burt, you love your son. Sometimes, terrible things just happen. There is no way any of us could've seen able to see this coming. You can't go back and stop this from happening, as much as I know you wish you could. All you can do is be there for Kurt now. He needs you," she finishes with a smile. Her husband sighs.

"I don't want him to ever have to feel the way he does."

"I know, honey."

She drops a kiss to his temple.

"And Burt?"

He turns to her, and she looks him straight tin the eyes.

"You are the best father in the entire world."

It's the next morning, when he comes down the stairs, that Burt suddenly realizes the blood that once stained their font hallway is gone, without a trace.

He smiles and decides to make his wife breakfast.

Kurt is running. Running fast and hard, but he can't go fast enough. He wills himself to go faster, but his legs refuse the command. He panics as a hand closes in around the fabric of his t-shirt and pulls him down to the ground. Kurt screams and the sneering face laughs menacingly at Kurt, who's tears are making it impossible to see. Lips are violently forced onto his and he tastes cigarettes and blood. He's tryingtryingtrying to shove the weight off of his body, but he can't. He can't breathe. The contact on his lips is gone and he's creaming for help. Screaming nonono he can't stop screaming because it's his only chance. The sound of clothing ripping makes him sobscreamclaw. He needs to get out of here. "You want this, fag. You know you do." is slithered into his ear and he feels sick because no, no he doesn't. He's screaming and being shaken violently. He hears his name, but he's scared, terrified, so he just keeps screaming.

Until, very suddenly, Blaine's face is above him, and he can feel his fists clenching at the material of his t-shirt. Kurt is gasping for air he can't find because he can still feel hands all over him.

"Kurt. Hey, Kurt, baby please calm down. I'm right here, I promise I'm never leaving you. Shh, okay? You're awake now, it was just a dream. It's okay now. I'm right here. I love you."

Kurt slowly finds breath and tries to stop crying, stop thinking about that face, that pain all over, those wor-

'No', he tells himself sternly. He focuses on the feel of Blaine's hand rubbing circles on his back and the sound of his voice in his ear. With a painstakingly desperate amount of effort, Kurt is able to replace dreams with reality. The puzzle pieces begin fitting together in his mind. A hospital room, Blaine, police, his dad. They work their way to the front of Kurt's thoughts, and he makes himself stand with two feet in reality.

He gently opens his eyes again and whimpers at the darkness. He bites his lip because there are way too many places for someone to hide. Blaine reads his mind in that special way of his and detaches himself from Kurt's grasp to turn the lights on, and gets back in the bed before the bewildered teen really understands it's happening. He feels his stomach physically unclench as the light floods into the room. He takes a moment to look around the room, once more clutching at Blaine, to be sure it's just the two of them. When he can't see his face anymore, he lets his head fall against Blaine's shoulder.

"Are you feeling better, love?" His voice is smooth, concerned. Kurt couldn't be more grateful for the contrast. He sniffles and half shakes, half nods his head. Blaine nods and lets his boyfriend recover for a moment. But there's a question pestering the back of his mind, one he simply cannot drop.

"Kurt? Can I ask you something?"

Kurt nods softly against his shoulder. He takes a deep breath.

"Your nightmare…you were screaming, that's what woke me up. You were just screaming. But then…then you started screaming someone's name," he's speaking quietly. Kurt stiffens and lifts his head, moregreythananythingeyes wide. Blaine takes his hand and looks directly into those terrified eyes. He has to know the truth.

"Kurt, was Ryan the one who did this to you?"