Kurt froze at Blaine's words. He was really upset. Like, he'd never been picked on before. Sure, what the boys were doing was wrong, but everyone got teased or picked on. Then again, it wasn't for being gay.

There was something about getting picked on for who you loved that just didn't settle right. Looks, whatever, how you talk or act, fine, but when it came to love, call Kurt a sap, but that was sacred.

He watched Blaine take off into the school and he followed. He was upset and he thought Blaine was being rude. Kurt was trying. Well, he thought he was, anyway.

It took Kurt a few minutes to find him, walking into the men's room. He heard crying and he caught the door to the bathroom so it wouldn't make noise. It was Blaine, he was talking to someone, but there was no one in any of the other stalls. Besides, he didn't think anyone talked to Blaine here aside from him. But the crying tugged at Kurt and he leaned on the counter, listening.

"... t-they... I got thrown in a dumpster," Blaine cried, obviously trying to calm himself down. "I've had my head stuck in a toilet. They threw slushies at me! Who... who does that? I didn't think it could get any worse than there, but its close. I mean, they're just disgusted with me. That I can handle, but the physical stuff. Eric, I'm scared," he said, his voice catching. Kurt leaned forward a little more, trying to hear. "I freeze up, whenever they get close. All I can think about is- I know. I know they did. But my ribs just healed up and bruises are all gone. I shouldn't be scared of getting hurt like that again."

Kurt covered his mouth, sure his eyes were huge from shock. Blaine had been beat up. That was disgusting and horrible. Kurt couldn't help but feel like a monster. He was standing idly by as the bullying of Blaine was slowly getting worse. He had no idea what Karofsky or Azimio or Puck's limits were, or if they would even stop at all.

"...I would switch schools again, but I don't think my family can handle it anymore. There aren't any other public schools in the area and we can't afford to move or send me to a private school. The hospital bills really wiped us out." Blaine exhaled sharply, still trying to regain his composure. "I just don't know what to do anymore... Well, there's glee club, they're nice enough there... I thought there was someone, but I was wrong..." Kurt dropped his head and slipped back out of the door without making a sound; he couldn't handle listening anymore. He had never felt so guilty and ashamed of himself before. Was his reputation really worth letting Blaine get harassed to no end? Of course, defending Blaine would also subject him to his own bullying, but they would at least have each other. Kurt decided then and there that he'd have to do something to make Blaine feel a little better. He couldn't live with himself if he didn't step in and do the right thing.

After first period, Kurt saw Blaine at his locker, his eyes were still swollen from crying. "Hey, Blaine, I'm sor-" Blaine whipped around instantly at the sound of Kurt's voice.

"Don't give me this fake apology bull crap, you're not sorry. If you were really sorry, you would have done something to stop them."

"It's not what you think, Blaine."

"Oh, I know exactly what's going on! You're the bait. You're going to pretend to be my friend, and lure me into some sort of trap so you and all your jock buddies can run me out of the school." Blaine slammed his locker, stomping off down the hall. "I'm not falling for your crap."

Kurt slumped down next to the locker, feeling defeated. He really did deserve for Blaine to walk away from him and not believe him, he'd been a horrible person. He had to befriend Blaine and make it up to him somehow, even if it took until the day they graduated.


The next day at school, he overheard Karofsky and some of the jocks planning to lock Blaine in the port-a-potty after school. This was his first chance at redeeming himself and he was going to take it. If he successfully stopped Blaine from walking out his usual way after school, he could help Blaine get home without anyone seeing them.

Kurt slipped a note in Blaine's locker, 'I'm really sorry for not stepping in before. They're planning another attack. Whatever you do, don't use the back door after school. I promise I'm only trying to help. ~K' Blaine was reluctant to believe the note. He thought for sure it was a trap, but as he passed by the back door of the school, he saw one of the jocks' letterman jackets out the door. What was the harm in using another door today? It couldn't be any worse than having to walk by the jocks. Blaine made his way out one of the side doors nobody ever really used, so luckily nobody else was around. 'Well, maybe it wasn't a trap.' He thought to himself.

Kurt had been waiting in his car, parked inconspicuously, but close enough to the back of the school that he could see if Blaine had decided to walk out the back. He also has a good enough view of Blaine's car, and sighed with relief when he saw Blaine was getting inside. Kurt couldn't help but notice how good-looking Blaine was again. He was sitting in his car, digging for something under the seat. His eyebrows were scrunched up in concentration until he finally pulled out a silver disk and pushed it into the cd player.

A small smile spread across Blaine's face and Kurt bit his lip to keep from smiling too. Blaine had no acknowledgement of the people around him in the parking lot; he was in his own bubble, being himself. Kurt longed to see more of that Blaine. When he watched the curly haired boy pull away he decided he should get going too.

Kurt didn't like driving in the car. He always felt trapped in his thoughts; the task of driving had become too simple to distract him anymore. He finally decided it wasn't normal for someone straight to find Blaine so attractive.

Or any guy for that matter.

What had been stopping him before from exploring thoughts like this was society's way of shaping his mind, growing up in Ohio. He had always thought being gay was wrong. But what could be so wrong about it? Love is love. All Kurt had to do was admit it to himself. Nobody else actually needed to know right now; it wasn't their business.

Kurt parked in the drive way of his home and made his way into his bedroom. Burt was at the shop so Kurt had it to himself for at least another hour. He flopped down onto his bed and continued thinking. If he could just survive these next few years of high school he could go to college in New York or somewhere where everyone was a lot more accepting. Maybe he could even pursue a career in singing or acting. He had to admit it was something he had always secretly wanted to do. All he had to do is say those two little words and his thoughts would stop being contradictory and conflicting. He wiped a small tear away from his eye and sighed.

"I'm gay," He whispered to himself.

Kurt sighed in relief a second after he finally said it. It felt great. He said it a little bit louder. When nothing happened, his face cracked into a smile and he screamed it at the top of his lungs screaming.

"I'M GAY!" Kurt looked around and nothing happened yet again. He giggled a little and thought of what Blaine's reaction would be if he knew and then his phone rang. He jumped and then looked to the caller ID. It read 'Mercedes'. Kurt froze. He could answer the phone, but right now all he was thinking about was how he was gay. He was a horrible boyfriend to Mercedes and he felt horrible for stringing her along. But then again, he couldn't not answer; they were finally okay again and he didn't want to lose her. He answered the phone greeting her with a big, "Hi Cedes!"

"Hey White Boy. I missed you today at school. You weren't around much."

"I'm sorry, boo. I've got a lot on my mind... but I can make it up to you. I bought you something." Kurt said. He felt really guilty earlier about everything that was going on and bought Mercedes a lovely scarf. He knew she would appreciate it and it would be his way of saying sorry.

"Really? You didn't have to do that... I realized I shouldn't be so pushy lately anyway."

"I wanted to. And it's not your fault. I'll bring it for you tomorrow?" Kurt said.

"Sure. I'd like that. Can we meet for lunch?" Mercedes asked.

"Of course." Kurt replied. They both talked for a little while about school and clothes before they hung up. Kurt spent the rest of his night thinking and fell asleep with thoughts of Blaine.


The next morning, Kurt made his way to school a little early. He wanted to find Mercedes and give her the present he had. He found her by her lockers that morning and presented the scarf to her, silently asking for forgiveness from everything.

She thanked him and gave him a brief kiss before they walked to classes together. The next couple of classes passed uneventfully and Kurt head to his study period before lunch alone. Before he made it there, he saw Karfosky and Azimio cornering Blaine in the hallway. He had just gotten his packed lunch out of his locker. Azimio looked at him menacingly.

"Hmm this lunch looks quite good, Tinkerbelle." Karofsky looked inside.

"Too good for a homo to eat" Azimio laughed.

"I think it is ours now!" With that, the two jocks grabbed the lunch bag from Blaine and stalked off into the distance. Blaine looked quite upset, and turned to walk outside. Kurt stared after him for a while before making a decision. He had never really skipped class much before, but study hall wasn't a real class, anyway.

He looked to see if any teachers were looking, ran outside and jumped into his car. He quickly drove to the nearest submarine restaurant and bought himself and Blaine some sandwiches. He drove back to the school and parked the car. It took him quite a while to get back and now it was the beginning of lunch period. He ran back into the school and searched for Blaine, wondering where he was. He peeked into the lunch room but couldn't see him, so he wandered outside. He finally found Blaine sitting in a secluded corner of the bleachers and went to join him.

"Hey," Kurt greeted softly. Blaine looked up at him, but didn't answer. Kurt tried again. "I uh.. saw that they took your lunch and well, I brought you something." Kurt offered the sub to Blaine and Blaine looked up at him blankly.

"Is it poisoned?" Blaine asked.

Kurt gaped back at him and wondered out loud, "You would really think I'd poison your sandwich?" Blaine just shrugged. Kurt sighed and sat down. He unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite. He then offered the sandwich to Blaine. Blaine still looked wary, but was hungry enough and took the sandwich, starting to eat. Kurt sighed in relief and took the other sandwich out and began eating. They sat in silence for a while, contemplating everything that was going on. Kurt's phone beeped once or twice, but he was too focused on Blaine and missed it. Meanwhile, back in the lunch room, Mercedes was looking around for Kurt to come in. He said he would meet her for lunch and he was already quite late. She tried texting him but there was no response.

When the boys were done eating their sandwiches, they glanced at each other, neither knowing what to do. Finally, Kurt smiled and broke the tension. "I told you it wasn't poisoned." Blaine rolled his eyes, but Kurt saw a hint of a smile at the corners of his lips.

"Yeah, well… This was one time." Kurt raised an eyebrow and Blaine shook his head. "Thanks for the sandwich, I really do appreciate the gesture. I gotta head to class… See you later?" He waved as he went off to his next class.

Feeling elated, Kurt practically floated to his next class. He sat down in his usual seat next to Mercedes and stared at the chalkboard with a dopey smile on his face.

"Uhhh, Kurt? Did you forget something?" Kurt turned his head to look at her.

"I don't believe so, why do you ask?" He instantly knew he was in trouble when he saw the fire flare up in her eyes.

"We were supposed to have lunch together! You didn't show up! What happened?" Briefly contemplating telling her a lie, he settled on telling her the truth instead.

"I was having lunch with Blaine." Mercedes screwed up her face in confusion.

"Blaine, who's Blaine? Wait… Do you mean the new kid? The gay one? Why would you have lunch with him?" Kurt felt his face grow hot.

"He got into a bit of a… Confrontation with Azimio and Karofsky during passing to study hall. They took his lunch, so I went to the sub shop and bought him a new lunch." He shrugged, trying to play it off as nothing.

"You bought him a new lunch? But… Why?" Kurt struggled to come up with an answer that didn't include how hot Blaine's ass looked in his jeans.

"Mercedes, he's the new kid. He's getting bullied and he got his lunch taken away. I'm just trying to be friendly, trying to show him that not everyone at this school is an asshole."

"Well… Next time, just shoot me a text or something, alright boo? I thought you had ditched me for a hot date with another girl." She smiled, poking him in the ribs.

"I'll never be able to find a hotter girl to date than you, Mercedes, I promise you that."


The next morning, Kurt overheard some of the jocks talking about sneaking up on Blaine during lunch in front of the whole cafeteria. He didn't quite hear what exactly they were going to do, but he knew if he was going to get Blaine to trust him, he had to find a way to get Blaine to skip lunch.

Blaine still wasn't sure what to think of Kurt. Yes, he was trying, but it could still just be a big trap. Maybe the bullies at McKinley just thought everything through a bit better than at his old school. Blaine was on his way to lunch when Kurt came running up behind him, out of breath.

"What's going on, Kurt? What's wrong?" Blaine asked.

"Blaine! I'm so glad I caught you! You can't go to lunch! The jocks! They're planning something!"

"What are they-?" Blaine's sentence was cut off when he saw 4 large jocks coming towards him with slushies. He knew it, it was all a trap. Kurt only pretended to help him out. It was all just an elaborate plan to corner him in the hallway so they all attack him with multiple slushies at once.

Just as 4 slushies came flying at Blaine's face, Kurt jumped out in front of Blaine, trying to shield the boy the best he could, falling on top of him in the process.

"Hummel! What'd you do that for?" Karofsky yelled, "Why would you protect the homo?"

"Maybe he's a homo, too!" Another jock laughed.

"Kurt! You didn't have to do that..."

"Yeah... I did, I couldn't let you go it alone. I'm sorry for... well everything."

"But what about the rumors… they're totally going to start spreading rumors about you being gay." Blaine's voice sounded concerned. Kurt just shrugged, "Sometimes you need to stick up for a friend."

A/N: I'm too tired to come up with anything witty to say tonight. Reviews/comments/questions/whatever are always welcome! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed thus far, we love you!

Don't forget to track the Caramelotti tag on tumblr. Good night!