Disclaimer-I don't own Glee

Thanks for reviewing

Chapter 9

Not being a patient person, it proved a great challenge for Kurt to rest silently by Blaine's side as he waited for his fellow Warbler to speak. The elder boy had his eyes closed and his hands placed over his face, as if he was trying to hide from the world and everybody in it, including Kurt. As the silence stretched on, Kurt worried that Blaine may fall asleep, or that he himself would doze off.

Suddenly, without warning, Blaine bolted straight up into a sitting position, his back completely rigid. Propping himself up on his elbows, Kurt cautiously reached a hand out to Blaine's shoulder. He could feel how tense Blaine was but he didn't pull away. Shifting so that he was on his knees, Kurt knelt behind Blaine on the bed and rubbed his shoulders soothingly.

"Courage." Kurt whispered in his ear and Blaine slowly turned his head but his body did not relax.

Breaking away from Kurt's touch, Blaine moved so he was sitting with his back against the wall and his legs stretched out across the width of the bed, his feet nowhere near to touching the floor. Kurt moved to sit in a similar position next to him, an inch of gap between their bodies. Blaine was staring straight ahead while Kurt kept his eyes on Blaine's face, waiting nervously for him to talk.

"You said you were taunted," Kurt said deciding to start the conversation off. "At your old school."

Blaine nodded his head jerkily in response. He then pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs, his right hand locking around the wrist of his left.

"There's other stuff." Blaine told him. "Before the bullying. Things I haven't told Wes and David."

"Just tell me whatever you're comfortable with." Kurt replied. "I won't stop caring about you."

Blaine turned his head to the side, completely obscuring his face from Kurt. He bit down on his lip, desperately wanting to believe the younger boy's words but not quite able to.

"When I was younger," Blaine began twisting his head so he was staring straight ahead again, blinking far less than was common. "Nine years old, my parents separated. They're together again now, but for a while my mother and I moved out to live with my mum's sister, my aunt."

"Was she… did she treat you… was she cruel to you?" Kurt asked wondering if Blaine's aunt was one of the missing pieces in the complicated Blaine Anderson puzzle.

"No, it was nothing like that." Blaine answered. "Aunt Louise was wonderful to us. She and my mother were very different though. She always used to tease that my mum was a born house-wife. I suppose you could say my mother was the more conservative type while Aunt Louise was somewhat more rebellious. The family life had never appealed to her. She had countless men in her life but there was rarely anyone serious."

Kurt nodded his head as he listened though he was nowhere near to understanding. He knew it must be relevant somehow or else Blaine wouldn't be telling him. He remained quiet as Blaine continued to tell him about life with his mother and aunt. Then he mentioned a young man that had moved in with them for a while.

"His name was…" Blaine closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "His name was… P-P-Pet… oh get it together Blaine, fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." He scolded himself. "His name was… Peter Nichols." He managed to say and Kurt's mind conjured an image of a boring looking fellow with badly kept hair, awful fashion sense and a scrawny figure. "He was younger than my Aunt Louise, just twenty-two years old. By this time I was ten."

"Was he cruel to you?" Kurt asked sensing that this Peter Nichols must have some importance.

"He was like a big brother to me." Blaine replied and Kurt furrowed his brow in confusion, that had not been what he expected to hear. "I really looked up to him, admired him, and I trusted him. At school, we had to write an essay on our hero. I wrote mine about him."

As Kurt watched Blaine carefully, he could see that the darker-haired boy looked sickened by his own words. He was burning to know just what this man had done to a ten year old Blaine but he held his tongue. It would do no good to rush Blaine into telling him what was obviously very difficult for him to talk about.

"Over the summer holidays," Blaine continued. "We started off an on-going game with some of my friends around the neighbourhood. Spaceships, in my aunt's backyard. It was fun. P-Peter used to scoop me up in his strong arms and spin me around. He was good with all us children, but he always whispered to me that I was his favourite."

Blaine had to swallow the bile in his throat and Kurt felt his heart hammering as his mind conjured the worse case scenarios as to where this story was heading.

"One day," Blaine said. "The other kids ran inside the house where my aunt was dishing up ice-cream. I was going to follow them but h-he grabbed my arm and told me to stay and play spaceships with him. I went willingly, trusting him so completely, I was such a fool."

"It wasn't your fault." Kurt interjected refraining from the urge to touch Blaine in case it freaked him out. "Blaine, what ever he did to you, it wasn't your fault."

Still not making eye-contact with Kurt, Blaine carried on as if there had been no interruption.

"There was a wooden playhouse in the backyard. That was where we used to play our game." Blaine told him. "As he led me there he said… he said, 'If you're a good boy I'll show you my rocket'. Being ten years old I was a little young to catch such an innuendo."

"Oh," Kurt bit his lip. "Tell me he didn't… please Blaine, not you, I don't want that to have happened to you."

"He didn't, he didn't r-rape me." Blaine replied slowly and perhaps that statement should have been a comfort to Kurt, but the dread was still very much present in the very marrow of his bones. "He took me in the playhouse and… he pulled my shorts down. His too. I tried to cover myself up but he wouldn't let me. He started t-touching me. Then he took my hand and made me touch him too. I didn't understand what was happening. I knew it was wrong but… the way he spoke to me. His tone was so gentle, his words were so normal and… it almost made me think that what he was doing was normal. When it was over, he just ruffled my hair then left me in there. I just stayed there on my own. Not moving, not crying, I just sat there. Eventually I went back inside and he just smiled at me before catching me in a hug, like he always did. Later on, my mum asked what I'd been doing that day but… I didn't know what to say. I just told her that me and P-Peter played s-spaceships. I didn't know how to tell her about what happened. I didn't know words like molested or sexual abuse let alone what it meant."

"That sick bastard." Kurt seethed wishing he could find this Peter Nichols and teach him a lesson. With the help of his dad, Finn and his old Glee mates as well as his new ones. He was sure Puck and Jake in particular would make the man beg for death. Sue Sylvester too, she'd really make him rue the day he was born. "What else happened with him?" Kurt asked knowing there had to be more.

"It happened a few more times." Blaine answered. "Usually in the playhouse but a few times it was in my bedroom. One night he was babysitting for me while my mum and aunt had a girls' night out. He came into my bedroom and got into the bed with me. His hands and lips were everywhere. I asked him to stop, told him I didn't like it. He just laughed at me then flipped me over. That was the first time I put up a fight. Every time before that I just held still, kept quiet and let it happen. But not that time. I screamed and I kicked out trying to get away from him. I must have screamed pretty loud because the couple who lived next door came rushing in. Mr. Myers, the man who lived next door pulled him off of me. I always thought he was a kind gentle man, but that day he was so angry as he kept hitting him. It was scary. Mrs. Myers held her arms out to me, told me to come to her but I didn't want anybody touching me. I ran past her, down the stairs, out the door and down the street."

"Where did you go?" Kurt asked him gently thinking that whoever Mr and Mrs Myers were, he loved them very dearly.

"Home." Blaine answered. "My real home, where my dad was. I still used to see him, not as often as I'd have liked, but he was always a good dad. He hadn't abandoned me or anything. He and my mum just needed a break I guess. I still don't know why it was they separated for nearly three years."

"What did your dad do?" Kurt enquired.

"Asked me what was wrong." Blaine answered. "Then held me all night after I told him everything P-Peter had been doing to me. I cried and he cried along with me. I moved back with my dad. It wasn't until I was twelve that my mum showed up on the doorstep asking to come home."

"What about your aunt?" Kurt asked. "And that pervert?"

"He was sent to prison." Blaine explained. "It was quicker than those things usually are. Dad's a lawyer, he pulled some strings. I didn't even have to make an appearance in court. I had to do a filmed interview though. I remember I was sat in a room on a couch with a giant of a man sitting opposite me asking the questions. I could see the camera and I knew my parents were in the other room listening and watching. I didn't want to repeat everything again, but I knew I had to. And Aunt Louise, she never forgave herself. After… after everything, I told my dad I wanted to visit Aunt Louise. I wanted her to know that I didn't blame her and that I still loved her. We waited a day too late to drive down."

"Too late?" Kurt asked.

"The guilt drove her to kill herself." Blaine told him sadly. "I was the one who found her body in… in the playhouse."

"Oh Blaine," Kurt sighed. "I'm so sorry." He felt so awful for the boy beside him and he hadn't even begun to discuss the bullying he'd endured.

"It's ok." Blaine answered with a broken smile still not meeting Kurt's eye. "These terrible things have to happen to someone. In this case it's me."

"It should never have been you." Kurt told him.

"It shouldn't be anyone." Blaine corrected. "Can that be enough for now?" Blaine asked. "I'm too emotionally drained to delve into the bullying tonight."

"I understand." Kurt replied feeling a little relieved. Hearing about Blaine's child abuse was heart shattering. He didn't know how much more he could bear to listen to in one night. "Thank you for having the courage to tell me."

"You don't think I'm weak?" Blaine asked. "Disgusting?"

"You're strong." Kurt told him firmly. "And you're beautiful."

"I really don't deserve you." Blaine whimpered.

"Hey, look at me." Kurt ordered gently and Blaine finally lifted his head to meet Kurt's gaze. "You are so special and I've never felt so strongly about anyone as I do for you. You're everything to me Blaine." He moved in to kiss Blaine's forehead, thinking it probably best not to try for the lips so soon after Blaine reliving the horrors of his childhood abuse.

"You too." Blaine replied reaching his hand out and gently stroking Kurt's smooth cheek with the back of his knuckles. His hands shook a little but he forced on a smile and leaned in for a quick loose hug before Kurt left.

Lying back on his bed, Blaine let out a long sigh. He'd opened up to Kurt and revealed the first of many scars. It was a huge step in the right direction but there was still a way for them to go.

To Be Continued

Please Review

Love and Hugs, IceQueenRia xxx