God, the end is getting near, isn't it? Unfortunately, with this chapter comes the return of the angst. It couldn't be all happy and jolly forever. Thank you to everyone for your continuing support. Your reviews make my day every single time I get one. I obsessively check my e-mails because of it. Please don't let up now! I love talking to you and hearing your opinions and what you think will happen next. Some of you are scarily accurate. I didn't know there were so many mind-readers in the world!

Oh, and to JVMontaine: Thank you so much for your review! As for your little puzzle, I promise you that the reason why they ran instead of telling someone will be explained. I realised it wasn't quite within character, so I promise there is a good reason.

I don't own Glee. You would think I could come up with something wittier, but it's the ninth of July and I'm in mourning. I have excuses.

10.

A month later and Kurt jerked out of his sleep and sat bolt upright, breathing heavily and shaking. He felt a bead of sweat drip down his forehead and wiped it away in disgust. Knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, Kurt threw the covers back and climbed out of the bed, careful not to disturb a still-sleeping Blaine. He stepped into his boots and walked out of the room, making his way to the courtyard to look up at the moon and the stars.

"Hey, Kurt."

Kurt looked over and sighed "Hi Mayhew."

Mayhew beckoned Kurt over from his little room, where he sat while carrying out night watchman duties. Kurt walked over and settled down into a chair. Mayhew handed him a glass of water and said "You know, that's a perfect record, every night this week. I swear Garrett said it wasn't that bad."

Kurt sipped his water and answered "That's because for Garrett, they weren't. He only ever saw me once, twice a week at the most. They're getting worse."

Mayhew frowned "And you still haven't told Blaine?"

"I don't want to worry him."

"He'll find out eventually! All he has to do is wake up during the night and find that you're not there."

Kurt ducked his head, staring at his glass "I know."

Mayhew softened his tone "Maybe it would help, if you talked about them."

Kurt shook his head "I don't want to. On the surface, they shouldn't be nightmares, but they terrify me."

Mayhew sat a bit closer and coaxed "Come on, Kurt, it'll be fine. I…"

Mayhew trailed off as a knock came at the door and he walked out to answer it. After dealing with the late night visitor, Mayhew walked back in order to continue to coax the truth out of Kurt, but when he got back, Kurt had gone, the only evidence he was there was a half full glass of water left on the side.

The next morning, when Blaine woke up, Kurt was back in the bed, leaning on his side watching Blaine, a tender look on his face. Blaine reached up a hand and pulled his face down, giving Kurt a gentle kiss, before asking quietly "How long have you been awake?"

"Ten minutes."

"You still look tired."

Kurt smiled "I'm fine, Blaine. Ready to start a new day?"

Blaine stretched "Yeah."

They went down to breakfast as usual, and as they sat down, Thad looked up and said casually "Kurt, you do look tired. Didn't you sleep last night?"

Kurt sighed "You know, this is going to do nothing for my ego. You're the second person to say that to me, Thad."

"Well, you do." Jeff added.

"All right!" Kurt snapped "I get it, I look tired! But I'm not, I'm fine! How many more times do I have to say it?"

There was a stunned silence as Kurt got up from the table and flounced off. That was really the only word for the manner in which Kurt left. Blinking in shock, Blaine also got up and followed Kurt out, a confused frown on his face. Kurt hadn't got very far, only down the corridor and out of the door, where Blaine found him leaning against the wall with his hands over his face. Blaine walked over and gently pulled Kurt's hands away from his face, and before Kurt could school his expression, Blaine saw the look of absolute exhaustion.

Blaine gripped Kurt's hands, a thumb rubbing over the engagement ring as he said softly "You are tired."

Kurt nodded.

"What's going on?"

Kurt replied resignedly "I haven't been sleeping. I've been having nightmares."

Blaine nodded encouragingly and softly prompted "For how long?"

"About a month, but they've only recently turned into something that I can remember. Before, I would just wake up with no memory of what woke me."

Blaine's hazel eyes were locked with Kurt's blue ones as he asked "So what are they about? Why do they scare you?"

Kurt's eyes became distant as he explained slowly "I dream of horses. Black horses, running as a herd through the forest. I can see them coming, hear their hoof beats, feel the vibrations of the ground in my heart. I know that they're coming towards me, and they'll kill me if I don't move, but I can't. I'm rooted to the spot. I always wake up just as they're upon me."

Blaine pulled Kurt forward into a tight hug and said firmly "Kurt, you should have told me. I could have helped."

"I didn't want to worry you."

"And you think that your apparently inexplicable exhaustion wouldn't have worried me?"

Kurt shook his head, suddenly feeling very vulnerable "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be. I know what you're like, Kurt, hiding any weakness that you don't want. You don't have to hide anything around me. Tell me if this happens again, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good." Blaine drew back and began to lead Kurt back into the building. "Now, you're going to finish your breakfast and I'll tell Oliver that he needs to find someone to cover for your class. You need to go back to bed and try and get some sleep."

Kurt was too tired to argue.

He woke two hours later with a yell of terror, in a cold sweat. Without much conscious thought, Kurt got up and ran out of the room. He managed to get down the stairs before he came across Blaine, who was clearly on his way to check on Kurt. Kurt flung himself into Blaine's arms, head buried into the side of Blaine's neck as Kurt clung to him, shivering with a combination of fear and cold.

Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt as he murmured "The dream?"

Kurt nodded, and Blaine quickly drew him to one side, into a small room, where Thad looked up in surprise. He went to talk, but Blaine silenced him with a wave of his hand as he focussed on Kurt, sitting him down and encouraging him gently "Take deep breaths and calm down, sweetheart. You're all right, I'm here and you're safe. Just breath for me, okay?"

Kurt did as he was told, taking deep breaths as he clutched Blaine's hand, needing his warmth and strength. Blaine rubbed his back, murmuring sweet nothings to him until he was interrupted by Thad coughing awkwardly.

Blaine looked over and asked "What is it, Thad?"

"I'm sorry, but I did overhear what you were talking about and I was wondering if you'd take a suggestion?"

Blaine nodded warily "Yeah."

"Why don't you talk to Ronan? He might be able to help."

Blaine looked at Kurt, after all, it was his decision. Kurt swallowed and answered in a husky tone "Not now. I can't now, but later maybe."

Thad seemed to understand that and left the room with an apologetic smile, leaving Kurt and Blaine alone. Kurt glanced at Blaine and asked quietly "Will you stay with me for now? I feel safer when I wake up if you're there."

Blaine nodded immediately, an indulgent smile on his face as he replied "Of course I will, Kurt. You don't have to ask."

They both headed back to their room and this time, Kurt fell asleep with his head on Blaine's chest. Although he slept for a little longer, the nightmare still woke him up and after this happened twice more, Kurt gave up trying to sleep, despite Blaine's every attempt to persuade him otherwise.

In spite of this, it took Kurt two weeks to cave into seeing Ronan. It was only when Kurt noticed that Blaine had started not sleeping in order to comfort him. Kurt knew it couldn't go on like this. He wasn't going to destroy Blaine's health as well.

When Kurt knocked on the door of Ronan's room, and the big Irishman opened it, it was clear from the grin that Kurt was expected. Nevertheless, Ronan was very patient and waited for Kurt to explain what was going on. After Kurt had haltingly recited his reoccurring nightmares, Ronan sat back in his chair and sighed to himself.

There was silence for a few minutes, before Ronan leaned forward again and said firmly "You're not mad, Kurt."

Kurt let out a shaky breath. Secretly, he really had been afraid that he was losing his mind. It wasn't a pleasant thought, and he was so grateful that Ronan, in his usual no-nonsense manner, had dispelled those fears.

"So what's wrong with me?"

"Nothing. You don't have to go into detail, but you came here to run from something, didn't you?"

Kurt nodded.

"You're having nightmares because of a traumatic experience. I hate to break it to you, Kurt, but that's actually completely normal."

Kurt laughed a little, but asked "They don't make any sense though. Why aren't I…, I don't know, reliving the experience or seeing the person? Why these pointless dreams?"

Ronan smiled "Well, symbolism in dreams isn't my speciality, but I could find out for you, if you think it would help."

Kurt nodded again "Please."

Ronan got up and walked over to a heavily stacked bookshelf. Reaching up to the top shelf, Ronan pushed a few books out of the way as he stretched to reach a book that was right at the back of the shelf. It was a little square book, about two inches thick.

Ronan opened it and flicked through, murmuring to himself until he said "Here. Black horses. To dream of dark horses signifies prosperous conditions but a large amount of discontent. Running horses signify that you will hear of the illness of friends."

Ronan looked back up at Kurt and asked "Mean anything to you?"

Kurt had gone pale and still. Ronan quickly moved and tapped Kurt's shoulder. Kurt jumped and looked at Ronan almost guiltily as he replied "Yes, but I can't tell you."

Ronan shrugged "That's fine. Any idea what Blaine wants to do for his birthday?"

Kurt frowned "What?"

"Blaine's birthday. It's the nineteenth of August, Kurt. Blaine's birthday is only three days away."

Kurt looked shocked "I didn't know."

Ronan laughed "You don't know when your fiancé's birthday is? Poor show, Kurt."

"He's never mentioned it. You would have thought that he'd say 'oh, by the way, I'm turning twenty on the 22nd of August.'"

Ronan still hadn't stopped laughing at the look on Kurt's face "Anyway, ask him, will you? We'd usually take him out, but he'll want you there, and we can't take you out of Dalton."

Kurt got up "Thanks for reminding me, Ronan. Yeah, I'll ask. Thanks for today."

Ronan waved his hand "It's really hard to keep up with you when you're being sarcastic. You're welcome."

Kurt left the room and Blaine had clearly been hanging around waiting for Kurt to emerge, because he appeared by Kurt's side almost immediately and asked "How did it go?"

Kurt considered that question before replying "He was very nice. Gave me some things to think about. He can't stop the nightmares, though. That's something I have to do."

Blaine took Kurt's hand as they walked along and sighed "You sound more positive. I'm so glad you talked to Ronan."

Kurt wasn't lying when he agreed "So am I."

As they stepped out into the open air, Kurt asked casually "What do you want for your birthday?"

Blaine choked and looked at Kurt in shock. Kurt just raised his eyebrow and waited for the explanation that Blaine was frantically trying to put together.

Finally, Blaine got out "How did you know?"

"Ronan asked me to ask you what you wanted to do for your birthday. He seemed rather surprised that this was the first I knew about my fiancé's birthday. I'm still waiting on an explanation."

Blaine ran a hand through his curls (momentarily distracting Kurt, who was remembering how much he liked to do that) and said "I was hoping they'd forgotten."

"You expected your best friends to forget your birthday? Excuse me, have you met Wes and David? Even if the rest of the Warblers had forgotten, you know they would be reminded."

"Like I said, I was hoping. Not expecting. I don't like a fuss being made."

Kurt rolled his eyes "And what about me? What if I'd wanted to get you something?"

"I was going to tell you on the actual day, when it was too late for you to organise anything. Anyway, you don't need to get me anything. You said yes. That's all I'll ever need from you."

Kurt melted on the inside a little at that, though he was sure that it was Blaine's design in saying that, so he quipped back "I'll remind you of that next year, when you complain."

Blaine laughed and pulled Kurt against him so Kurt could feel the vibration of his laughter in his chest. They stood in each other's arms like that until Blaine got himself back under control and kissed Kurt tenderly, almost teasingly, so that Kurt followed his mouth as he moved away.

Blaine murmured "Will you tell Ronan that I don't want a fuss made? He'll pass it on to Wes and David."

Kurt nodded quickly and pulled Blaine back in for another kiss. It wasn't fair, really, how addicting Blaine's touch had become to Kurt. He didn't know how he'd ever been able to survive without it now that he knew what it was like to have that touch exclusively.

Three days later and when Blaine woke up that morning, Kurt was already awake and he leant over to kiss Blaine thoroughly before murmuring "Happy birthday, darling."

Blaine grinned, not least because of the term of endearment that fell so naturally from Kurt's lips.

"Thank you."

Kurt settled back down, curling into Blaine's side as he said "Now, I'm pretty sure I managed to call Wes and David off, so you don't need to worry about a fuss. As for me, you didn't give me enough time to get you anything, so expect it once this whole thing blows over."

Blaine laughed "I told you, I don't need a present from you. Having you here is enough."

"Well, don't expect the same sentiment on my birthday."

"When's that?"

Kurt smiled "Eighth of November."

"Three months away."

"That's right. Come on, you old man. Time for breakfast."

Blaine protested as he got out of bed "I'm not old. I'm twenty."

"You're a man in your twenties who's with a teenager. See, you sound predatory. You're old."

Blaine grabbed Kurt around the waist, preventing him from moving as he hissed into Kurt's ear "If you want predatory, you should know that I'm not too old to completely dominate you."

Kurt pressed back, his voice lower than usual as he muttered "Oh? I'm not sure I believe you. Why don't you show me?"

With a growl, Blaine quickly dragged Kurt back onto the bed and crawled on top of him, straddling the younger boy's hips as he bent over and kissed him hard. Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck and surrendered to the kiss. Blaine trailed the kisses down Kurt's neck, nibbling on the skin there as he stroked his hands down Kurt's chest, deliberately aiming for a spot he knew made Kurt squirm.

Kurt didn't disappoint, letting out a moan as he jerked his hips up, pressing his arousal against Blaine's, who immediately pulled away and looked down at the boy spread out under him. Kurt let out a whine and sat up, promptly attacking Blaine's mouth with his own and shifting his hips in order to get that delicious friction back.

They were so lost in each other that they failed to hear a knock at the door or the door open.

"Hey, Blaine… Oh my God!"

They boys flew apart and Kurt yelled, more in embarrassment that anything else "Christopher! Don't you knock?"

"I did!"

"Well, then when neither of us answered, you should have gone away!"

Blaine burst out laughing, which broke off the escalating argument as both Kurt and Christopher stared at Blaine, who was quickly running out of breath.

When he managed to stop, Blaine said "Kurt, why don't you go and get ready?"

Kurt nodded, kissed Blaine one more time, glared at Christopher and went into the bathroom. Blaine looked at Christopher and asked "What's up, Kit?"

Christopher scowled at the shortening of his name, but replied "Wes and David sent me to see what was taking you guys so long and also, Perry needs to talk to Kurt."

Blaine nodded "Okay. If you repeat what you saw to either Wes or David, they will never let us live it down, so I suggest you think up a convincing story. As for Perry, we'll be down soon."

Christopher nodded and almost ran out of the room. Blaine started to get ready and when Kurt emerged, he passed on the message as they went down to breakfast.

As they sat down at the table, everyone chorused "Happy birthday, Blaine."

Presents were produced and Blaine, while protesting the entire time, clearly loved the attention. The pairs that were practically inseparable, people like Wes and David and Nick and Jeff, gave Blaine joint presents and the others gave little individual presents. The table was a mess of paper and eating had almost been forgotten. Kurt was sitting by Blaine, and appeared to be enjoying the presents and attention that Blaine was getting just as much.

Once all the presents had been given out and Wes and David had announced that they had set up a party in Dalton for tonight (for which Blaine promptly tried to kill them), Kurt motioned to Perry and they moved to a quieter place in order to talk.

With no preamble, Perry stated "I wanted to ask if you'll take my place in the hack this afternoon."

Kurt raised an eyebrow "You love riding."

"If I go, I'll have to listen to Alessio going on about his Laura and I can't do that anymore."

Kurt sighed "You can't keep avoiding him, Perry. Alessio's not stupid, he'll notice and he will call you out."

Perry shrugged "No, he won't. He's too caught up in Laura. All he talks about is her. It's breaking my heart, Kurt."

"Then tell him!"

Perry shook his head "I can't do that either."

Kurt frowned, but nodded "Okay, okay. I'll take your place, but so long as you understand that if Alessio asks, I am pointing him straight at you."

Perry nodded wearily "Fine."

Kurt walked away, leaving Perry behind, rubbing a hand across his forehead in an aggravated motion.

Kurt went to his class, who greeted him rather enthusiastically. It kind of touched Kurt, especially when the twins, who had never once pulled any punches, promised rather sweetly that they'd stop their tricks for a while week until Kurt felt better. Sometimes Kurt forgot that they were only fourteen years old.

Then in the afternoon, Kurt went to the stables and met Alessio, who looked a little confused and walked over to meet him, asking "Where is Perry?"

Kurt frowned "Didn't he tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Perry switched places with me. I'm riding with you and the students today."

Alessio looked surprised "Is he ill? Why didn't he tell me himself?"

Kurt shrugged, feeling horribly guilty for putting such a look of hurt confusion on Alessio's face as he replied "He's not ill as far as I know. He just asked me at breakfast to switch places."

Alessio nodded, still looking a little upset and said "Okay. Ride Shadow again and we'll go."

Kurt turned away and walked to get Shadow. He hadn't taken even five steps when Alessio called out "Kurt!"

Kurt looked back over his shoulder. Alessio was looking at the ground as he asked reluctantly "Is he avoiding me?"

Kurt's heart broke for Alessio as he answered "I don't know, Alessio. You'll have to ask him."

"I will."

The ride would have been pleasant, but it was clear that Alessio's head was somewhere else, as was proven when he answered any question that was asked in murmured Italian. When they came back into the stables, Perry was standing there, his dark green eyes fixed on the entrance, clearly waiting for the group to return.

When Alessio caught sight of him, he leapt off his horse and ran at Perry, throwing a powerful punch. Perry didn't move, but at the last minute, Alessio pulled his punch, so that his fist only grazed along Perry's jaw rather than hitting him full on.

Alessio yelled furiously "Cosa credi di fare evitandomi in questo modo? Non sei nemmeno venuto acavalcare con me!*"

Kurt was chivvying the students away, keeping one eye on the two men as Alessio yelled. He wondered if Perry was going to answer, or if he had even understood what Alessio had said.

Apparently he had, because Perry replied "I'm sorry Alessio. I should have told you."

"Dannazione certo che avresti dovuto**!" Alessio then seemed to realise he was yelling in Italian and with a visible effort, turned his tongue to English. "Why were you avoiding me?"

"I wasn't."

"Eravate, Perry! You were! Do you think I'm stupid? You're my best friend, of course I know when you're avoiding me."

Perry just sighed and repeated "I'm sorry," before turning and walking off.

Alessio clenched his fists and swung around, stalking back over to his horse while muttering furiously in his native tongue. Kurt groaned quietly to himself. He had really thought that Perry was going to tell Alessio the truth. For a minute, it looked like Perry had considered it, before bottling. Well, there was nothing Kurt could do now, so he just made his way back to his room to wash and change in time for the party tonight.

He walked through the door and immediately pulled off his top, dumping it on the floor as he walked through to the bathroom and called a servant to start the bath running. When he walked back out to pull off his boots, he started. Blaine was lying on the bed, eyes closed. Kurt sat down on the edge of the bed and Blaine opened his eyes at the movement, the hazel colour softening at the sight of his fiancé.

Kurt smiled "Hey there. What are you doing here?"

"Trying to get some peace and quiet before this hideous party starts. What about you?"

"Just finished going riding with Alessio. Perry's in trouble."

Blaine sat up, wrapping his warm arms around Kurt's waist as he replied "Alessio's worked it out then?"

"Not the emotion, but he knows that something's changed. I'm just going to have a bath, and then I'll get changed into something else more appropriate for a party. You'd better do the same, seeing as it's your birthday party."

Blaine groaned, but let Kurt go into the bathroom, then got up and moved to the closet in order to sort through the clothes he had brought with him and were already there, before settling on what he had worn for Finn and Rachel's engagement party, remembering the look on Kurt's face all those months ago.

When Kurt came out again, all clean and fresh and smelling of soap, the look on his face as he took in Blaine's outfit made the whole stupid event worth it, in Blaine's opinion. Kurt looked like he wanted to rip the outfit off with his bare hands and then have his wicked way with Blaine.

With a cough and a shake of his head, Kurt managed to tear his eyes away and moved over to the closet as well, flinging all his clothes onto the bed and sifting through them, trying to put together a outfit from a limited selection. After a half a hour, Kurt had managed to pick out an outfit and they went down hand in hand together.

Oliver met them at the bottom with a grin and led them to the Warblers meeting room, which had been decorated nicely, with a buffet and alcohol. Most of the Warblers already had a glass and as Blaine walked through the door, they raised their glasses in a toast.

Music started playing and the celebration began. Despite Blaine's initial reluctance, he ended up enjoying himself more than he expected, with Wes and David not leaving him alone. Kurt was spending most of his time with Oliver, Nick and Jeff. Blaine was making his way over to Kurt when Ronan laid his hand on Kurt's shoulder and asked "How are the nightmares?"

"Still there, but I've worked out what it is that's wrong."

"That's great. Anything I can do?"

"No. I haven't even told Blaine."

"Are you going to?"

"I wasn't planning on it…"

Blaine reached Kurt at that point and folded his arms as he asked "What aren't you planning on telling me?"

Ronan, Oliver, Nick and Jeff disappeared tactfully as Kurt went pale. Blaine asked again, clearly angry "Well? What aren't you telling me?"

Kurt twisted his hands together "Ronan told me what my nightmares are supposed to mean. 'Signifies prosperous conditions but a large amount of discontent.'"

"So?"

Kurt bit his lip and said "I want to go home, Blaine. I want to go back to Lima."

Blaine shook his head immediately "You can't. It's not safe."

"I'm not happy here, Blaine! It's beautiful, and everyone's lovely, but this is a cage! I'm not free, and wasn't that the reason I ran in the first place!"

"If you're really not happy here, we'll go somewhere else. I can think of another place."

Kurt rolled his eyes and said "You don't get it. Any place we go to will end up as a cage, because there will always be restrictions on what I can and cannot do!"

Blaine finally yelled back "Of course I don't get it! You're asking me to understand you going back to a place where your life is at risk!"

"It's still my home! I'm stronger now and I can deal with Karofsky. I can't keep running anymore!"

Kurt turned and ran off. Blaine went to run after him, but Wes caught his arm and said "Let him go, Blaine. The two of you need to calm down before you say something you'll really regret."

Blaine struggled briefly, but eventually went slack and Wes hesitantly let him go, before taking his arm and guiding him over to where David and Thad were standing. Blaine took a glass of wine and downed it, then immediately reached for another. Drowning his sorrows seemed like a good idea.

Kurt ran out into the courtyard, breathing heavily, more through adrenaline and anger than physical exertion. He paused briefly, eyeing up the gates, before throwing caution to the wind and walked out of the gates and into Westerville. It was about 9pm, so all the pubs were still open and quite full. There were less people on the streets, but still enough to notice Kurt.

But nothing happened. Absolutely nothing happened and once Kurt had cooled down a bit, he headed back, and got back to Dalton by 11pm, slipping back in unnoticed and making his way to his and Blaine's room. On pushing the door open, Kurt caught sight of Blaine, still fully dressed, sprawled across the bed and fast asleep.

Kurt smiled despite himself and went over, pulling off Blaine's shoes and top and easing him under the covers. When Kurt turned away to undress, Blaine blinked open hazy eyes and murmured "Kurt?"

Kurt finished undressing "Yeah, I'm here."

"I'm sorry. I over-reacted."

Blaine's voice was sleepy and slurred, he was quite clearly still a little drunk, but it didn't make him any less sincere.

Kurt smiled "I'm sorry as well. We both over-reacted a little. You're forgiven."

"You too. No more secrets?"

Kurt slipped into bed and wrapped his arms around Blaine's body "No more secrets. I promise."

"Good. I promise too."

Translations: Were done via Babelfish, so are unlikely to be accurate. I apologise now :D

*What do you think you're doing, avoiding me like this! You couldn't even come riding with me!

**Damn right you should have!