A/N: Well, Kurt needs comfort too.


A Mind Shaken

Kurt wakes early the next morning, and Blaine is still fast asleep when Kurt slips on a too big and very comfy jumper before making sure Blaine is still tugged in warmth and then heading downstairs.

As soon as he enters the kitchen he is greeted with a warm, "Hey," from his dad sitting at the kitchen table, coffee in one, the paper in the other hand.

"Hey," Kurt replies, aiming for a smile but somehow missing, and Burt does not have to be told to notice.

So as soon as Kurt, his own cup of coffee in hand, sits down next to him, he places the paper on the table and takes Kurt's left hand, gently in his own right.

Kurt closes his eyes and lets out a deep breath. He cannot help the shaking that starts in both his hands, and while Burt, in an attempt to comfort tightens his hold on Kurt's left hand, Kurt loses hold on his coffee mug, and it comes crashing down on the table, Kurt shrieking back as coffee spills everywhere and almost falling out of his chair, but caught in Burt's embrace, before it comes to that.

As soon as Burt's arms close around him, both of them standing between chairs now, Kurt loses it completely, his sobs only broken by torn whispers, "It isn't…fair," "What…what did they do…do…to…to him?...Dad?" "I…I woke…woke up to him crying in his sleep…tonight,…three times,…all…all I…I could do…was hold…hold him closer and…hope."

"Son, I…," Burt searches his mind rapidly for the right words to say this, "You are doing everything you can. I think you are the reason he is now looking for help. With you, he does not want to pretend, so, he cannot just pretend to be strong anymore either. You are the reason he is trying to heal. That is a good thing. But it does not mean you have to do this alone."

Kurt grows finally quiet in Burt's arms, and Burt knows that the protest is going to come next, so he continues before Kurt can cut in, "I know you want to be there for him every step of the way. And we will make that possible, as best we can, I promise you that, but neither of you is alone in this, I will be there with you, both of you. And I know Carole will do all she can to make sure you will both be okay."

Kurt, lifting his head from Burt's chest, where it has been buried all this time searches the room to make sure Blaine is really not there, before he looks up at his dad, whispering, "There are all these scars on his forearm."

Burt's eyes widen in horror, he had seen something going on at the dinner table last night, but this, this is, is not what he expected. Neat, caring, nothing but lovely and loving with his son Blaine, "He cuts?"

Kurt shakes his head, "I don't know," Kurt almost chokes when he tries to swallow, still holding his father's gaze for support.

It breaks Burt's heart to see the tears flowing so thick from Kurt's eyes as he says, "Dad, I am so scared. I think he…There is this cut, this scar, beginning at his wrist,…I think he…I mean he must have…why else would it be there…who cuts there if not to…he must have tried…," and Kurt cannot say it out loud, and he closes his eyes on the world but the thought won't leave, He must have tried to kill himself.

Kurt feels his father's arms tighten around him once again, and then, without having to look at Burt again Kurt knows Burt has understood what Kurt could not say out loud.

His father's voice is soothing and deep when he hears it next, almost humming, "He, Blaine loves you, very, very much, Son."

And Kurt too knows what Burt is trying to say.

"Loving someone and being loved by someone changes you, Son. He wants, more than anything, to be with you. I heard you on Valentine's Day, sitting in there, on our couch, 'the marks reach deep, but deeper runs love,' he read that to you, right?"

Kurt nods, shakily - croaks out a "Yes."

"I think he was trying to tell you things then already, things back then you could not yet understand. Blaine wants to be everything for you, and he knows he has to heal to truly be able to be that. We will help him do that. You, I, Carole, heck, even Finn."

And then Kurt is letting out a wet, chocked laugh, but a laugh still.

"Okay, Kiddo?"

"Yeah," and now it is Kurt hugging Burt tight, "Thank you, Dad."

Placing a kiss into Kurt's hair, Burt says softly, "I love you, Kurt."

"I love you too, Dad."

And in the quiet that follows, both standing with their eyes closed and wrapped deep in each other's arms, Burt is the first to register the sound of coffee, now cold, still dripping from the table onto the kitchen floor.