Author Notes: What's this? An update? So soon? This is clearly what happens when I do tonnes of overtime at work – fics ideas revel and breed in the boredom. Also – Pottermore! Woo! I'm sorry, I'm a little over tired right now, and for some reason am still awake, just so I could polish this off. I may not make sense. But hopefully the chapter will! Yay! Much love to all readers and reviewers!

Chapter Ten

Kurt had somehow bitten his tongue the entire time and just listened to Blaine talk. He had somehow held a solid eye contact on Blaine's face, even when Blaine cast his own eyes down. He had just kept up the gentle ghosting of his fingertips over Blaine's bare chest; comforting and reassuring.

Suffocating.

Alone.

Lost.

Broken.

That last one had really got Kurt, and he had not been able to stop himself from stilling his fingers' movements and reaching with his other hand to clasp Blaine's cheek, stoking it gently with his thumb, waiting for Blaine to look up at him again as the other boy's words stuttered out in a barely audible mumble, "I mean…there must be something wrong with me. What kind of person doesn't cry when their own father dies? I've tried. I have. But…I just…can't. Not even when-"

He jerked to a halt, cutting himself off for yet another time that afternoon, his train of thought jumping. Kurt remained quiet, waiting for Blaine to pick it up again.

"I can't sleep. I wake up from these…dreams…every night. And I can't remember what they're about, but they're as close as I get to crying. Because for a second, I just can't breathe." A horrible bitter smile snaked across Blaine's face, "God, I'm such a basket case… I'm just so freaking tired, all the time… Everything's just…" He groaned, unable to vocalize himself.

Kurt sighed and pulled Blaine closer, nuzzling his forehead to connect with Blaine's, his wordless actions melting that horrible smile from his boyfriend's face. They lay there in silence for a while, Blaine simply soaking up everything that was Kurt, letting his emotions ebb and lull between them, finally free from the suffocating pressure he had buried them under.

But then, unbidden, a thought injected itself nastily into his memory, "I'll miss this…I don't know what I'm gonna do without you."

The words had just flowed from his lips, because he had talked so much over the past half hour or so, and everything just seemed out in the open. But his jerky and stuttered words, as he had spilled them to Kurt, had been without focus, and that had been one key detail he had yet to mention.

The confusion of the words hit Kurt in the stomach, enough for him to actually pull his head back slightly to look at Blaine's face properly and interrupt, "Wait, what? Who says I'm going anywhere?" Panic threaded through Kurt, because surely Blaine wasn't about to break up with him like some traumatically damaged martyr? Not after all this? Kurt was strong, but he wasn't sure if he was strong enough to stick it all out with Blaine through an emotionally driven semi-break-up.

Blaine didn't even see the shock and worry on Kurt's face, and if only for that, it was obvious just how drained he was. That, and he still wasn't looking into Kurt's face, his head angled downwards, focused on his arms as they clasped around Kurt's lithe body. "I promised my aunt. She...she didn't want Uncle Peter to know about me, you know, being gay. And especially about you. She said she wasn't sure how he'd react. And it was the evening after the funeral, and I just couldn't argue any more about it on top of everything else. And I was just exhausted and scared and-" His words tumbled faster and faster now, and Kurt suspected this was the root behind Blaine's behaviour over the past few days, because on top of everything, on top of his dad, and moving to Lima, and McKinley, he had to go right back and deal with all this old crap? "-And I'm really sorry, and I know you're gonna think I'm even more of a coward than you thought I was, and I won't blame you if you want to break up, because that's okay, really, but I'm just really sorry I didn't fight for it, for us and-"

Kurt lunged forwards and captured Blaine's lips in a deep kiss that effectively killed all the words trying to escape his mouth. The kiss was perhaps slightly harder than Kurt had intended, but he was also trying to deal with one of those few moments when he felt as much of a testosterone driven moronic teenage boy as Finn. It was either punch a wall while pretending the poor wall was actually Blaine's family, or translate his anger into passion, and show Blaine just how much he was never planning on breaking up with him.

"Oh…" Blaine said dumbly, when Kurt finally pulled away.

"Just so that's clear." Kurt murmured with a spark of a smirk at Blaine's dumbfounded expression. He dropped to a more serious tone, returning to trace patterns on Blaine's stomach, "And as for that…narrow-mindedness, we'll deal with it together. You're always welcome here, as you, Blaine, not some cheap copy. You know that, right?"

Blaine just smiled softly, and Kurt knew that he did. They had needed this, he thought, as Blaine shifted closer and leant his head against Kurt's neck. Blaine had needed this. Too much had been hidden away and building up. "Thank you." Blaine's words came out in barely a breath, but Kurt still heard them.

They lay in comfortable silence for a little while, and Kurt could hear Blaine's breathing begin to soften as he continued to trace therapeutic designs across his skin. He sighed, loath to break the moment, but knowing his dad would be home in ten minutes. He looked down at Blaine, and saw that he was struggling to hold his eyes open, clearly wanting to enjoy lying with his boyfriend, but equally really needing to sleep.

Kurt smiled fondly, and despite everything that was going on right now, he couldn't help but have a moment of Blaine's my boyfriend!

He pulled away slightly, jostling Blaine, who blinked owlishly and clearly tried to wake himself out of the sleepy calm he had fallen into. Kurt couldn't help but lean down and place a few lingering kisses against Blaine's neck – and when had he gotten to be the bold one in their relationship? – "Don't move a second, I'll be right back."

He gracefully slipped over Blaine to the other side of his bed, catching hold of his shirt from earlier, grimacing at how he had let it actually fall on the floor. He slipped it on and smoothed out a few creases as he buttoned it up, before reaching down and picking up Blaine's discarded t-shirt, delicately turning it back the right way round, before twisting back to climb over Blaine again and retake his previous spot on the bed. Blaine had been watching him the whole time, blinking sleepily with a smile that was so much more open than before, now he had been able to talk to someone.

"Here." Kurt handed him the t-shirt, and he partly sat up, his brain still comfortably muzzy from the odd half-sleep he had been lying in, hypnotised by Kurt's gentle patterns. When he was in a more Burt-presentable state, Blaine made to try and wake himself up a bit more, reaching up to scrub his face with his hands and sit up more.

But then gentle hands caught at his, and he was pressed back into the position he had been before, as Kurt curled himself back around him. And that comfortable muzzy feeling snuggled around his brain again, in for the long haul this time. He distantly felt Kurt kiss him softly on his lips, and murmur, "I think you could use some actual sleep, Blaine. Boyfriend-Orders, okay?" Blaine shifted, and curled closer, warm, and not alone, and safe, while Kurt leant his cheek against the gentle curls of Blaine's hair, "I'm here."

When Burt crept in five minutes later, he could only smile sadly at his son, curled all around Blaine as they lay on top of the bedspread. He was just lying there, absently watching his boyfriend doze, quietly listening to music from his ipod in only one ear, not wanting to sleep, but obviously not wanting to be anywhere else.

Kurt always was the strong one; even when he shouldn't have to be.

He watched in amusement as Kurt jumped slightly when he realised his dad was in his bedroom, clearly having been far too gone in his own little world. Blaine didn't even stir. Burt just smiled, forestalling any chance for Kurt to dare him to make a challenge of how he had found the boys. As far as Burt was concerned – as long as there was clothes and as little skin on show as physically possible, he was just about okay with finding his son in such close proximately to another boy.

Voice low, he murmured to Kurt as he backed out of the room, "Dinner's at seven – I'll tell Carole Blaine'll be eating with us?"

Kurt flashed him a brilliant smile, and it was then that Burt knew something had changed again.

He hoped it lasted.

Kurt allowed himself to drift. He was sort of staring at Blaine, but not really, because his eyes were unfocussed and he was completely lost in his own thoughts. The soundtrack to Wicked! bled seamlessly into the original version of Raise Your Glass, which had been on his ipod since Blaine had forced his music collection onto Kurt's poor laptop over the summer.

But it always made him smile.

He thought about everything and nothing. About what tomorrow's day at school would turn out to be like, about what kind of a man Blaine's uncle might be – theories and dread ran wild in his mind for that one – this week's Glee assignment, his French essay, Blaine in his arms, what it would be like to win Nationals…

But then Kurt was pulled from his musings, because Blaine had shifted against him, and his muscles that had been so relaxed in sleep were now completely taut and tense.

Kurt looked down, expecting with a nasty feeling to find his boyfriend entering a nightmare in his sleep.

He wasn't. He was already awake, blinking at a spot on Kurt's chest. Kurt frowned with concern as Blaine seemed to focus on keeping his breathing controlled. His whole body was utterly frozen in Kurt's arms.

"Blaine?"

Blaine seemed to relax slightly at Kurt's voice, a weariness now accompanying his countenance. He sighed in an apparent attempt to brush over whatever had just happened, but Kurt couldn't miss how Blaine's grip on his arm was still quite tight, "At least I got some sleep, right?"

Kurt's frown deepened. Blaine must be the most still and silent nightmare-victim on the planet; it was almost unnerving, as if he had gone through this routine so many times, and the one thing he couldn't dispel was the bone-deep fear such things brought with them. Kurt would know – he'd had his fair share of waking up gasping after Karofsky, "Bad dream?"

Blaine shrugged, "Guess so." His voice was quiet, and he met Kurt's concerned gaze with a tired smile, "They'll get better. I just need to get through them. Waking up with you helped, of course…" He relaxed more in Kurt's arms again, and leant up to steal a kiss.

"Smooth." Kurt commented with a quirky smile, before continuing more seriously, "This has happened before, though? Nightmares that stop you from sleeping, I mean."

And there, Kurt knew Blaine was playing something down, "I never remember them. I just know I've woken up because of one… I guess it's when I'm stressed or whatever. How else do you think I got hooked on caffeine?" He then changed the subject with the subtlety of a door handle, "What time is it?"

"Nearly seven, I think. But Dad popped in and said you could stay for dinner."

And there was Blaine's gorgeous, honest smile, the smile that Kurt had missed seeing with such frequency of late, "Cool. I'll just call my aunt." A pause, and then a pout, the scary moment of earlier successfully swept under the carpet as far as Blaine was concerned, "But I don't wanna move…"

Kurt let it slide, just for now, because they had talked about a lot, and kissed a lot more, and Blaine was really being very cute.

"No, tonight's cool. I mean, we've got glee club stuff tomorrow after school, and I've gotta be home straight after school on Friday, 'cause my uncle's coming back." Blaine rolled his eyes as he switched his phone to his other ear. "Whatever, David. But seven thirty sounds good. I'll let the others know. Kurt and I'll definitely be there…Yeah, I know...Don't let Jeff kill Wes, okay? You don't want to be down a Warbler before you even hit Sectionals! See you guys there."

Blaine thumbed off his phone and popped his phone absently on his locker shelf so he had free hands to sort his stuff. Kurt smiled at Blaine as he finished with the call, "So… Breadstix?"

"Oooo! Breadstix?" Tina bounded up next to Kurt as he leant against the lockers next to Blaine's.

Mike followed slightly slower, grinning as he looped an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders, "Cool. Tonight?"

Blaine stuffed his books from that morning's classes in his locker, nodding with a wry grin, "Yep. Some of the Warblers have organised a fieldtrip to check up on me under the guise of dinner. We thought we'd make it a big glee club thing if you guys are up for it?"

Kurt grinned superiorly, glancing at Mike's over-exaggerated scandalous expression as the tall dancer gasped dramatically, "You never pass up on Breadstix!"

Blaine snorted, closing his locker and shouldering his bag as the four of them headed off in the direction of the courtyard, where they were meeting some of the other glee kids for break. They were only a little way down the corridor when Blaine cursed in mild annoyance, patting his pocket, "Damn, I left my phone in my locker. Back in a sec."

Kurt rolled his eyes fondly as the three of them paused on the corner and Blaine did an about turn, "My boyfriend, everyone."

A metallic dull quick succession of thuds, the theme tune of Kurt's junior year, and his easy smile dropped. His head whipped around just in time to see his boyfriend slammed up against the lockers, flanked by Azimo and another footballer equally as big – Ryan Trent – and watch as two cups of neon blue raspberry slushies were emptied over Blaine's head.

The worst thing, besides the sickening jolt in his stomach, and the white hot anger, was that Kurt found he was completely unsurprised.

And the accompanying, "Welcome to McKinley, bitch!" as Azimo actually ruffled Blaine's slushy filled hair roughly, before giving him one last shove and swaggering away, laughing with Trent, was way too much for Kurt to handle.

His furious shout of "Hey!" as he strode towards the scene was completely expected.

Mike's gentle but firm touch on his shoulder as he pulled Kurt slightly back to take point against what had happened was reassuring.

Tina's instant grabbing for her phone was simply glee club protocol.

But everyone in the corridor, from Azimo, to Mike, to that odd looking freshman and that annoying cheerleader, and especially Kurt, were completely stunned by one thing.

Namely Blaine.

Namely Blaine, and the way that after barely a split second of freezing shock, he actually leapt at and tackled Azimo.

Needless to say, it all went epically downhill from there.

To Be Continued…

Author Notes: Oops. This final scene/cliffhanger has mutated epically from the original version in the space of two short days, I think for the better. Which is odd, considering this was one of like only three scenes that the entire fic was built from. Oh well. I welcome all feedback/Azimo threatening that you may have :D xxx