"Hey, Schuester! I made up schedules for what classrooms are going to be cleaned each night for all the teachers so they know when to leave the classrooms open."
Kurt looked up from his friendless tea party to see his favorite janitor and Mr. Schue talking over schedules. Kurt's favorite adult in the school was probably this janitor. Though Mr. Schue was fairly nice and Miss Pillsbury had very elegant taste in sweaters, but no grown up was as friendly to him as this burly man with icy blue eyes. that Kurt had known to be so kind.
"Hey buddy, playing tea party?"
Kurt smiled at the janitor and nodded.
"You're playing alone?"
Kurt blinked, "Yes, well. I tend to play inside during recess."
"Yeah, it's pretty cold today anyway, I wouldn't want to play outside either."
Kurt hesitated, but picked up a larger green tea cup and offered it to the janitor with apprehension, "Would you like a cup?"
"Well I can't stay too long, since I've got a job to keep," he chuckled, "But I guess one cup for five minutes wouldn't hurt, would it?"
Kurt beamed at him and poured some tea from the big yellow teapot on the play table.
"Wow, you even have real tea!"
"It's cold. I'm not allowed to boil water yet, but mulberry tea is quite slimming and has a lot of antioxidants, whatever those are. They're good for you," Kurt said as he daintily filled up his own cup and took a sip with his pinky raised.
"Oh, well fill me on up then, before I have to go back to a life of mops as my only companions."
"Better than empty chairs for company, I'd expect."
"Don't count on it. Not until you've met the squeaky mop with a jiggly handle held together by bright pink duck tape this place provided me with. I'd have a better chance of cleaning the school with your little curly haired friend's hair on the end of a twig."
Kurt laughed, "This is a lot more fun with another person."
"You've never played tea party with someone else before?"
Kurt shook his head, "Nope, you're the first."
The janitor looked at Kurt thoughtfully, "Not even…not even, before you got here?"
Kurt shifted uncomfortably and sipped his own tea cup, "Um, no. My dad used to say tea parties were for girls."
"Well, that's not right is it? You're a guy, and I'm a guy. We're having a tea party. And would you look at that? We haven't turned in to girls," He shook his head and smiled at Kurt, "Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something because of who you are."
The janitor stayed for tea at least ten minutes longer than he was supposed to.
Since Blaine and the girls had bailed Kurt out of the bathroom two weeks ago, Blaine had been watching Karofsky like a hawk. The way he treated Kurt didn't sit right with him.
Sure, none of the guys were as nice to Kurt as Blaine would have preferred. But the way Karofsky was, it was…different. It was sinister. The other guys picked on Kurt because he was weird to them. It seemed like it was so much more personal with Karofsky.
Blaine didn't like it.
So Blaine's recesses were spent playing sports with the guys until Santana would drag him away to do his three daily boyfriend duties. Kurt was never anywhere to be seen outside, so Blaine assumed he had been staying inside like always.
It was about dusk and so McKinley was having the last outside playtime of the day. The last game he was playing with the guys was a very heated basketball game, in which he was not doing so well in.
He realized how unfortunate his height had become in this game. The guys had teased him several times already about the ball being half as tall as him. Karofsky and Azimo were totally devouring the game. In fact, Karofsky currently was laughing as he held the ball above Blaine's head and well out of his reach.
"Come on, Hobbit! Jump! Jump!"
And boy, Blaine was trying.
Puckerman barked though it was half-hearted, even Puck could see the humor in the hopelessness of Blaine reaching that ball, "Blaine, come on get the ball, man!"
Blaine jumped until he realized he just couldn't jump that high. He sighed putting his hands on his waist laughing at himself, "Alright, alright. You win. I'm short, I get it. Just throw the ball already, Karofsky."
All the guys laughed unanimously with Blaine.
"Fine, fine. I'll throw the ball," Karofsky made like he was going to shoot but then stopped and looked sideways to where Kurt was walking around the court towards where the Cheerios were running laps with coach Sylvester.
Finn was getting impatient, "Come on, Karofsky. Toss the dang ball!"
Then Karofsky smiled, "Okay, I'll throw it. Hey Hummel, look alive!"
Some of the guys laughed at what they thought would just be Karofsky scaring Kurt with the ball.
But Blaine saw it before it happened. Karofsky threw the ball straight at Kurt's head, "Kurt duck!"
Kurt turned his head to look where he heard his name coming from and was met with an orange ball smashing straight into his nose.
Blaine's eyes went wide and he didn't think twice, he took off running towards Kurt, "Kurt! Kurt, are you okay?"
Kurt was lying on the concrete covering his nose. Blaine knew it was bleeding because he could see the blood dripping over Kurt's groaning mouth. He quickly reached into the front pocket of Kurt's burgundy sweater vest for the tissue he had tucked there that morning, gently wiping it over Kurt's bloody lip.
Karofsky was smug about his damage to Kurt, he and Azimo exchanged high fives and were laughing. Puck didn't look too concerned but the rest of the guys looked appalled.
Blaine looked at Kurt who was whimpering and crying hard all at once. The blood was pouring out of Kurt's nose and it was swelling. Blaine started to use the sleeve from his own plaid button up to sop up the blood when the tissue was used up.
"Blaine looked around for a teacher or a counselor, just someone who could help. He saw Santana running laps from afar and he screamed, "SANTANA!"
Her head snapped around and she saw Blaine kneeling over Kurt. Her eyes narrowed and she took off running in the opposite direction toward where Sue Sylvester was shouting at the other Cheerios through her megaphone.
"Santana, you're out of lap line! You're not on fire, not missing limbs, and I think you're too young to have started menstruating. Not that either of those would be excuses-"
"Coach Sylvester, I think there are more pressing issues!" And Santana pointed to the basketball court. Blaine could see Santana and her coach briskly walking toward them.
"What in the name of Charlie Brown's Christmas happened to this kid?" She didn't touch Kurt but she didn't look happy either, she took a menacing deep breath, "I smell blood. Someone better have an explanation!"
Blaine's eyes flickered to Karofsky and he was hit with daggers of the retinal variety. Karofsky shook his head 'no' and drew an imaginary line across his own neck with his index finger, and mouthed the words, "Or you're dead."
Blaine glared back, "Karofsky hit him in the nose with a ball."
"Blaine's lying, coach!" Karofsky protested.
She looked at Blaine with a firm stare, "You, miniature hobbit, take Kurt to nurse Carole. Karofsky, you follow Santana to my office."
Blaine helped Kurt up, still holding his sweater sleeve to Kurt's nose, and started walking him toward the buildings.
Sue had her back turned from them and was telling the other boys to fill out witness statements at the main office. While she had her back turned, Blaine was pushed over by Karofsky as he tried to walk by. He fell on his butt and Kurt had stumbled slightly.
Blaine looked up at Karofsky, he was infuriated. Karofsky was a bully. He bullied Kurt like no other. And now he was trying to push Blaine around. Blaine was fed up.
He didn't even blink before he had tackled Karofsky on to the cement, like he had done several times on the grass during football. But this time, it was personal. Karofsky threw his elbow into Blaine's cheek before Blaine could get any kind of hit in.
"Hey! Separate, now!" Sue pulled Karofsky up by his collar and shoved him lightly towards Santana, "Santana, take him now. And take your pompoms with you."
Santana smiled at her coach and winked at Blaine.
"Are you okay?" Blaine asked opening the main hall door for Kurt.
Kurt didn't say anything, he just whimpered slightly. Blaine tried to think of comforting words, but he just didn't know what to say to comfort Kurt.
"I…you're going to be okay, Kurt, o-okay?"
Kurt nodded with Blaine's sweater still held over the bottom half of his face.
"Kurt! What happened, kiddo?"
Blaine looked to the janitor's closet to see the janitor himself stick his head out and began making his way towards them with a worried expression.
"What happened to him?"
"Karofsky and a basketball happened," Blaine said with a small frustrated sigh.
Kurt started to cry then, really cry. Kurt was making little sounds of crumpled blubbering. The janitor bent down to Kurt and wrapped an arm around Kurt's back lightly. Kurt immediately clung to him. The janitor's ice blue eyes closed and he picked Kurt up off the ground hugging him, "You're going to be okay, buddy."
The janitor started rubbing soothing circles on Kurt's back and he motioned with his head towards Blaine to lead the way to the nurse. They walked in silence, other than Kurt's sobs which were slowly settling down on their trip.
"Hello sweetie, I just got a call you were coming! Come on in, sit up on the bed," she spoke as she turned to go through the cupboard.
They finally reached the nurse and the janitor stopped at the door taking a sharp breath in at the sight of the nurse Carole. He gently carried Kurt to the little white bed and gently set him down on top of it.
Blaine hopped up next to Kurt on the bed and hesitantly patted Kurt on the hand. To Blaine's surprise, Kurt turned his hand and laced their fingers together immediately. Blaine had a half smile on his face and Kurt returned it.
"Thank you for walking with me here, Blaine."
Blaine nodded, "Sure, of course."
He looked up at the janitor as he took a seat on a stool across the bed.
"And thank you too, janitor, uh."
Kurt looked at the name stitched into the janitor's coveralls, and looked back at him with a sweet smile, "Janitor Burt."
Author Note: Yep. Janitor Burt. :D
Someone asked if they were all orphans, and my answer is: sort of. Some of their parents have died, and some were taken away from unfit situations.
Blaine's mother died recently as you read, and he never knew his father. Kurt has a different back story which will come out later in the story!
Essentially, it's a sort of foster care but it's a group home for kids who don't have current legal guardians.
They could be transferred or adopted or even put in custody of a family member again. At least in my head.
I'm not totally clear on real group homes for children who aren't juvenile delinquents. So if I get a little inaccurate, you can let me know. :]
How was this chapter? A little angsty, eh? What do you folks think? :D