Kurt spent the rest of the day avoiding Blaine. He went to his first one-on-one therapy session, barely talking to Dr. Reeves, his appointed psychiatrist. He just nodded and shook his head when necessary, tuning the man out as best as he could. He sat alone at lunch and dinner, ignoring Santana's efforts to join him. Blaine looked miserable from where he sat, and Kurt figured he did, too. But he didn't want to go over to Blaine, because he was too afraid of rejection. He wasn't even sure what he felt for Blaine. Sure, Blaine was charming, kind, patient, funny, good-looking, and seemingly interested in Kurt, but Kurt didn't want to let himself fall for Blaine. Everything ends in tragedy, he reminded himself as he left the cafeteria.

He had screwed this up, though, he knew it was true. Blaine had some sort of feelings for him, and Kurt maybe did for Blaine, but even if he didn't, he had hurt Blaine's feelings. He sighed. One big screw up for today. He remembered the days when he used to keep track. Every thing he did wrong he added up, and at the end of the day, he cut once for every failure. But he was here, in a mental hospital, and he didn't have anything sharp; the staff and doctors made sure of it. They had checked his wrists at his appointment today as well. But he needed the release. Kurt made up his mind; he would cut as soon as he got back to his room.

"Scissors... No... Hmm... I could break the mirror? No, dad would have to pay for it..." Kurt muttered to himself as he turned the room upside down. Then he paused. He knew he remembered seeing a thumbtack or two on a bulletin down the hall to the girls' dorms. He glanced at the clock on the bedside table. 11:14. It was way past nightly curfew. Quietly, he opened his door and tiptoed down the hall. He made a left, stealthily navigating his way down the hall to where the girls' dorms were. The bulletin board was there, all right. It was right in front of the little coffee room where the students could go if they got up early or couldn't sleep. Kurt walked quietly toward the door, not wanting to be seen. He grabbed a stray tack off of the board, closing his fingers around it as he turned to leave.

"Oh, hey, it's Kurt, isn't it?" He was interrupted in his quest by a pretty blonde girl inside the coffee room. She was curled up in an armchair by the fireplace, sipping from a steaming mug of tea. "Hi there. Ariella, right?" She noddded and smiled.

"What are you doing up so late?" She asked, arching an eyebrow delicately. Kurt stepped forward, quickly slipping the tack into his pocket and praying that she hadn't seen. "Oh... same as you, I guess. Just couldn't sleep."

She nodded, smiling kindly at him and motioning him toward her. "You can come sit, if you like. These chairs are really comfortable."

"Okay," Kurt replied, not wanting to be impolite. He walked over and sat in the adjoining armchair, crossing his legs and getting comfortable. She was right; these were nice chairs.

"So," he said, not exactly sure how to begin. "Um... how's life?" He cringed. That sounded awful. Ariella smiled a little. "Okay, I guess. My individual therapy session was rough today." Kurt nodded; he could understand not wanting to pour his heart out to a complete stranger. "You can tell me about it, if you'd like." Kurt offered, smiling warmly at her. She really was such a sweet girl.

"Well, you know why I'm here, right?" Kurt shook his head. "Blaine didn't tell me after he introduced us the other day." He told her honestly. She laughed.

"Oh, Blaine, always the perfect gentleman. Well, I have an eating disorder. Anorexia, the doctors call it." She smirked. "I used to think of it as selective eating." Kurt laughed along with her.

"Anyway, I skipped lunch the other day, and my doctor noticed. I was honestly not hungry that day. But my doctor wouldn't listen. She said that I was relapsing, and I have to have my food intake monitored now. Honestly, it's so screwed up the way they do things. They're supposed to want you to get better, but when you do, they think you're lying. They sort of treat me like, 'Once an anorexic, always an anorexic.' If they don't expect me to recover, then how can they expect me to expect that of myself? They should be leading by example. They need to trust me if they expect results."

Kurt blinked. "Wow, that was deep." Ariella giggled shyly. "Sorry. I might decide to be a conselor one day, help other people who have had experiences like mine. I just think that, since I've been through it all, I would know how to do it better. Understand others through my personal experience, not just from words in a textbook."

Kurt was once again astounded by her wisdom. "Well, no matter what you do, you can't be as bad as your conselor is."

She made a face. "Doctor Jennings, do you have her?"

Kurt shook his head. "Doctor Reeves." The girl nodded, switching over to British seamlessly. "No, well, lucky you. Doctor Jennings is a right prat. Please excuse my British."

Kurt giggled. "I forgot Blaine told me you did that."

Ariella nodded. "Yeah, it's kinda my thing, you know?" she asked, still British. She looked up at Kurt. "What's your 'thing'?" she asked, switching back over to an American accent. Kurt frowned. "I don't know," he replied. "My clothes I guess; at least, that's the first thing anyone notices when they meet me. I guess they make me feel kind of secure, like as long as people see them they won't see... well, the real me.

"And what's the real you?" She asked kindly, her blue eyes warm. She looked so sweet and understanding, Kurt decided to tell her. "Cutting," he said bravely. "I cut myself because I get bullied." It felt so good to say it out loud. Cutting usually seemed to Kurt like the kind of thing to be whispered from behind closed doors, cleared from search historys and thrown into a paper shredder. Cutting.

Ariella nodded seriously, no trace of judgement in her eyes. "We all have our flaws, and the things we do to shield them. It's what makes us human, Kurt."

He nodded, not quite sure if he believed her yet. But he wanted to. "I'd better go to bed," he decided, standing up.

She smiled. "Sleep well."

"Thanks."

"Oh, and Kurt?"

"Yes?'

"I would put the thumbtack back in the board if I were you. Wouldn't want to forget and sit on it later." She winked, leaving Kurt dumbstruck as he left the room. Without any hesitation, he extracted the thumbtack from his pocket and stuck it into the board.

He had to go talk to Blaine.

Hello! Isn't Ariella lovely? We need more Ariellas in the world. :)

So, I know nothing between our two boys has happened yet. Don't hate me. There will be another update tomorrow, and it will be well worth it. Seriously, I have a plan for this, and if they had kissed in the library, it wouldn't have been half as interesting.

I love you all! Especially when you review, favorite, and follow ;)

Chapter 11 is on the horizon. Patience.

xoxo,

- Luna