A/N: Thank you for all your wonderful reviews and everyone alerting this story. You make me smile :) I'm sorry for the small cliffhanger at the end of the last chapter. This picks up right where we left off! Enjoy xoxo

Blaine heard Kurt's words swirling around in his head. Blaine, he threatened to kill me. It made Blaine's blood run cold. He felt all the warmth drain from his body as the seriousness of the threat seeped into his veins. The thought of that closeted bully taking Kurt's life was really too much for Blaine's mind to comprehend. But slowly the thought did make its way into his brain and brought with it a fury Blaine had rarely felt. The fire in his brain flooded through his muscles and set his heart ablaze.

No one was going to hurt his friend.

Except, Blaine quickly realized, he was at a huge disadvantage. For the first time since they became friends, Blaine felt that the distance between him and Kurt was insurmountable.

"Blaine?" Kurt's broken whisper snapped Blaine out of his reverie and reminded him that Kurt had turned to him. Blaine would find a way to support Kurt, despite the distance.

"Oh Kurt," Blaine said smoothly, hiding the rage he was currently feeling. "Where are you now? Are you safe?"

Kurt nodded but then remembered Blaine couldn't see him.

"Yeah. I'm standing in the hallway at school still. I couldn't uh, move after Karofsky, that's his last name, threatened me." Kurt figured there was no point in hiding Dave's name from Blaine, since he'd already told him everything else.

"Okay. So he's not there right now. That's good," Blaine commented, stalling for time as he tried to think of a plan to help Kurt. Blaine knew he was only a block away from the subway, so he needed to hurry up. "Okay. This is what we're going to do. I'm about to get on the subway, so I can't stay on the phone with you right now but I'm going straight home. Do you have a Skype account?"

Kurt was trying hard to focus on Blaine's words. He heard the confidence in his friend's voice and found his heartbeat slowing down and his breathing become less erratic. Blaine was taking control right now and Kurt was more than happy to let him. He knew then that he had called the right person.

"Yeah, I do." Kurt turned and faced his locker. He already knew where Blaine was leading him. He could do this, pack up his things and walk through the halls of McKinley, if he knew Blaine was waiting for him at the other end.

"Great. Do you feel calm enough to drive yourself home? I can stay on the phone while you drive, if you need me to." Blaine was gripping the handrail at the entrance to his subway station. He channeled all his rage outward toward his whitened knuckles, so that his voice would remain soothing for Kurt. He could already hear that he was having a positive effect. Kurt's words were coming out more evenly and Blaine could hear the lilt of Kurt's voice just out of reach. He was determined to bring his friend the entire way back to himself.

"No. I don't have a speaker on my phone, so I can't drive and talk anyway. I'll be fine. I can get home okay," Kurt replied, unsure who he was trying to convince more, himself or Blaine.

"Okay. Here's what we're going to do. You drive yourself home, while I ride the subway to my apartment. As soon as I'm there, I'll log into Skype. I'm going to text you my username when we hang up now. You log in and call me as soon as you can. Deal?" Blaine knew he sounded bossy, but he was pretty sure Kurt was appreciating him taking the lead.

Kurt exited the school and breathed in the fresh air outside. He glanced around quickly and sighed in relief when he saw that his Navigator was the only vehicle in the school parking lot. Yeah, he could do this.

"Deal."

Kurt arrived home first. He tossed his bag aside, stripped off his jacket and flipped on his computer. He strode into his bathroom and scrubbed his face, trying to get the image of Karofsky out of his brain. It was a useless effort.

He slumped his shoulders in defeat and shuffled over to his desk. He brought up Skype and typed in Blaine's username. He immediately saw that his friend was still offline. Kurt had every intention of using the extra few minutes to check his blog or do his homework. Instead, he sat there staring at the computer screen. It wasn't so much that he was waiting for Blaine, but rather that he began to feel untethered in a way he hadn't felt since his mother's death.

Kurt was so unfocused that he didn't know how long Blaine had been online before he noticed the solid green circle beside his friend's username. He quickly clicked on it.

Relief flooded through Blaine's body when an incoming call from Kurt popped up on his screen. He clicked accept.

"Hi Kurt," Blaine greeted his friend for the first time face-to-face.

"Hi Blaine," Kurt replied softly. It wasn't until Blaine's face materialized on his computer screen that he realized this would be the first time Blaine saw him. Kurt thought that maybe he should be thankful that Karofsky's threat was preoccupying his every thought because otherwise, he would have been a nervous wreck. He was also grateful that he already knew what Blaine looked like, because even on a computer screen, his gorgeous hazel eyes and easy smile were breathtaking. And as those eyes slowly took in each of Kurt's features, Kurt felt himself anchoring into his seat. Normally seeing someone unabashedly staring at him would cause him to squirm and blush, but Blaine's face was so awestruck, he never felt uncomfortable.

Blaine knew he should stop staring. That it wasn't polite or helpful, that he was suppose to be helping his friend deal with a serious threat. But he couldn't help himself. He hadn't spent a lot of time wondering what Kurt looked like. Going to a school filled with hundreds of boys meant that he knew just how many different ways "boy" could be physically expressed. Now he knew that any second spent on trying to picture Kurt would have been completely wasted, because the image on his computer screen was unlike any other boy he had ever seen before.

Blaine noticed the simple black v-neck t-shirt, that revealed a small patch of flawless skin, as his eyes traveled upward. He watched, fascinated, as Kurt swallowed and his Adam's apple bobbed smoothly in his elegant neck. Blaine took note of pink lips contrasting beautifully with the porcelain skin that surrounded them, and then glanced quickly upward because he figured he should know the colour of his friend's hair before he got lost in the sea of blue he had seen the moment Kurt's face had appeared on his screen. Blaine saw the brown locks that were finger tousled and swept upward off of Kurt's face before he finally gave in to the pull of Kurt's eyes. Blaine stared without blinking into the storm clouds that were staring back at him. He knew, just by watching closely, that Kurt's eyes weren't always this dark gray. He could tell that they clearly reflected the mood of their owner. In that moment, Blaine decided that one day he would be the reason that Kurt's eyes shone like the ocean under the noonday sun.

"Its nice to see you," Blaine said sincerely.

"You too," Kurt smiled softly and felt a blush slowly form across his cheeks. Now that the initial shock was over, Kurt could feel himself becoming self-conscious.

Blaine was fascinated by the pink tinge colouring Kurt's pale skin. Just when he thought his friend couldn't be more beautiful, he saw him transform before his eyes. But here he was again, allowing himself to get distracted from the true purpose of their call.

"Kurt," Blaine took a deep breath to refocus himself, "I'm feeling fairly helpless right now. I want to protect you and I don't know how to." During his subway ride home, Blaine had debated how best to handle the situation. He decided that being honest with Kurt about his feeling was probably the best approach. He didn't think he needed to worry about solving all of Kurt's problems. He was pretty sure his self-confident friend was capable of doing that on his own. What Blaine guessed Kurt needed was a friend to share his fears with. He could be, no he wanted, to be that person.

"Oh Blaine, I appreciate that. I really do. None of my friends here have even bothered to try," Kurt already felt comforted by Blaine. Kurt knew he'd been asking a lot when he called Blaine and the fact that he was here, offering whatever help he could, meant the world to Kurt.

"I know why you don't want to tell anyone," Blaine held up his hand to silence Kurt's anticipated interruption. "And I respected your choice," Blaine continued, "when you thought the only consequence was outing your bully. But this is a serious threat and if you don't tell someone, I'm scared something is going to happen to you," Blaine's voice filled with worry.

"I'll...I'll think about it," Kurt admitted. "I never thought it would get to this point. So yeah, you're right, I need to reconsider my strategy." Kurt remained silent for a moment, looking down at his hands resting on his desk. Blaine waited patiently.

When Kurt found his voice again, he said the only two words he could think of, "Thank you."

Blaine watched as the storm in Kurt's eyes cleared a little. The blue started to shine a little brighter, though not as brilliantly as Blaine guessed it could.

Since Kurt wanted more time to think of what his next step would be, they came to a silent agreement that there would be no more talk of bullies or fears tonight. Instead, they would take these moments to get to know each other better.

Now that they could converse face-to-face, they found their words came tumbling out with each talking and laughing over the other to share their thoughts. Their conversation flowed easily, confirming for both of them that the friendship that had begun through written messages was just as real as any of their other relationships.

In fact, the first and only awkward silence between them occurred when a loud shout startled them both.

"BLAINE!" Cooper yelled as he shut the apartment door behind him. "I brought home your favourite sushi rolls for dinner. Just wait till I tell you about the crazy shit that happened at rehearse..." Cooper's voice got louder and louder as he approached Blaine's bedroom and stepped inside. "Oh, sorry squirt," Blaine cringed at the nickname and Kurt couldn't help the smirk that formed across his lips, until he saw the face that belonged to the voice and froze in his seat.

"Didn't realize you were talking to someone." Cooper approached the computer screen and put his face right in front of the camera. "Hello there Blaine's friend, I'm Cooper Anderson." Blaine huffed indignantly in the background, always amazed by Cooper's lack of boundaries with respect to other people, but he relaxed a bit when he heard the cute giggle that escaped from Kurt.

"Oh my god, you're THE Cooper Anderson," Kurt flailed. He knew he probably should have controlled his inner fanboy a little bit, for Blaine's sake. But Kurt couldn't stop himself, he had worshiped Cooper Anderson, the Broadway star, for years.

Cooper visibly preened from Kurt's adoration. He turned to Blaine and flashed a toothy grin, "I like this friend, when can he come over to play?"

Blaine smiled sadly, "He lives in Ohio Coop, so not any time soon. And his name is Kurt."

"Well Kurt," Cooper began, turning his smile back toward the camera, "the next time you're in New York City, I'll make sure Blaine has a front row ticket to my show for you. And now you'll have to excuse Blaine but he has some delicious sushi he needs to eat." Cooper exited the room with as much flair as he had entered leaving Kurt stammering for a response. The thought of being able to sit front row for Magic Mike: The Musical had drained all the blood away from his brain momentarily.

"Sorry about Coop, he can be a bit...intense," Blaine offered, "but I should probably get going. Are you going to be okay?" Blaine's voice softened, all the frustration from his brother's interruption immediately replaced by concern for his beautiful friend.

Kurt shook his head and regained focus. Cooper may know his name now, but Blaine was the one who knew him. And cared about him. Kurt knew where his priorities were.

"Thanks to you," Kurt replied shyly, "I think I am." Kurt paused for a moment and then figured he had nothing to lose, "Would it be okay if we Skyped again soon?"

"I'd like that," Blaine confirmed. "Is tomorrow too soon?" Blaine grinned widely with a twinkle in his eye.

Kurt was too overjoyed to reply, so he just shook his head.

"Its a date then." Blaine replied confidently. "Good night, Kurt."

"Good night, Blaine."

Both boys had enough self-control to wait until their screens went dark before doing their happy dances.