Warnings: discussion of abuse and sexual assault.

I'm really sorry for such a long time it took to publish this part. I have the last part ready and I'm going through beta notes. It'll be posted on Sunday.

Kurt spun and landed off the couch before bursting into laugh.

"Okay, so we have a setlist and we're ready, right?" he asked Dani and Elliott.

"Yeah, it's great." Dani replied with a smile.

"We'll rock. I hope they're prepared for it." Elliott sat on the couch and reached for the water bottle.

"Good. We can make dinner, I'll just change first. Rehearsal clothes are great but I've been dressed up for like a week non-stop, I need a break." he chuckled and went to his room, taking off his sweater on a way. Elliott looked at Kurt's back and raised his eyebrows. He elbowed Dani who looked at him with a frown before he pointed at Kurt and the bruises on his hips. She sat up straight and leaned over to Elliott when Kurt started moving around his room and making more noise.

"You think…?"

"I don't know." he replied in a whisper and leaned on the back of the couch.

"I'll talk to him." Dani stood up and looked at Elliott. "Someone has to."

Elliott nodded and went to the kitchen to start on dinner. Dani entered Kurt's room and approached him.

"Hey, Kurt" she said quietly, trying not to startle him.

"Dani?" he spun around and looked at her. "I'll be back in a minute."

"It's not about this. Elliott started making dinner already. I wanted to talk to you?"

"Sure, what's up?" Kurt pointed at the bed so she could sit as he rested on a chair.

"See, that's what I've been wondering. Are you okay?"

"Of course." Kurt smiled and nodded. He crossed his arms on his chest and leaned against the table behind him.

"You know, I saw your bruises." Dani said softly and looked at Kurt.

"It's nothing, really."

"You have bruises on your hips, that's not exactly nothing?" Dani put her knees up to her chest and leaned her chin on them.

"I don't want to talk about it, Dani." Kurt said firmly. They were close but it still felt like Kurt shouldn't share that much yet. It wasn't a big deal for him but judging by Santana's reaction that night he wasn't sure Dani would see it that way, too. Kurt could feel himself blush.

"You have bruises on your hips. I'm not sure it's nothing… I don't want you to be hurt, honey."

"It's nothing, I promise. I just… Like this kind of stuff, you know?" he answered quietly.

"This kind of stuff as…?"

"Rough sex." Kurt murmured and blushed deeper.

"Oh…" Dani nodded and smiled. "So you're okay, right? Because there's nothing wrong with what you like but I don't want you to be hurt."

"I'm not hurt. I'm going to be fine." Kurt assured her and moved to the bed with a small smile.

"Okay". Dani pulled him into a hug and held him close for a few seconds. "You're a great guy, you know?"

Kurt snorted and pinched her side.

"If having rough sex with my fiancé will get me compliments I should do it more" he joked and laid his head on Dani's shoulder.

"By all means you should have the craziest sex imaginable if you want that." she chuckled and wrapped an arm around Kurt's waist. "I'm just worried about you, we all want you to be okay."

"I'm fine, Dani, I promise." Kurt mumbled sleepily and snuggled into her side, making her chuckle.

"Cuddle bug," Dani whispered and tickled him but after he shrieked she let him fall asleep.

Elliott came in after half an hour and raised his eyebrows with a smile after seeing Dani stroking Kurt's hair while he slept.

"Dinner is ready," he whispered and sat on the edge of the bed. "Can we let him sleep?"

"We should probably wake him up, I mean look at him, he looks like he forgets to eat all the time." Elliott said quietly. Dani nodded and bit her lip, looking down at him.

"I tried to ask but he said it's from consensual fun." she said quietly. Elliott nodded and smiled at her.

"You did good, Dani."

"I wish I knew what's wrong, you know? It kills me to see him like this."

"I know. I wish, too. Wake him up, okay?" Elliott kissed Dani's cheek and stood up to go to the kitchen.

Dani rubbed Kurt's arm and leaned close to him.

"Wake up, cuddle bug." she said softly and shook him gently.

Kurt opened his eyes and yawned. "Hey? I fell asleep?" he mumbled and rubbed his eyes. "I wanted to help Elliott with dinner."

"It's fine, Kurt. You know he loves cooking," Dani smiled warmly and got up from the bed. "Come on," she offered him help with standing up. Kurt got up and hugged her. "Thank you for caring" he whispered and went to the kitchen.

Kurt smiled as Blaine entered the apartment and put his textbook down on the table.

"Hello there," he said softly and smiled at him. It was a long day of studying alone and he was excited to spend some time with his fiancé.

"Hey," Blaine put his bag on the table and came closer to the couch. He leaned in and kissed Kurt sweetly. "Enjoying the day without your fiancé bothering you?" he asked teasingly.

"Actually, I missed you." Kurt pulled Blaine down on top of him by his shirt.

Blaine chuckled and leaned on his elbows so he wouldn't crush Kurt.

"You're in a good mood" he smiled and kissed Kurt again. Kurt relaxed and pulled Blaine even closer, kissing him back and humming happily at the taste of a chapstick he had bought Blaine a few weeks earlier. He chuckled and looked at his fiancé and bit his lip.

"I am in a very. Good. Mood." he stressed every word with a chaste kiss on Blaine's lips. "I thought we could have dinner and watch some movie? Have a spontaneous date night."

"Sure…" Blaine kissed Kurt neck and smiled at the desperate sound Kurt made. "Unless you can't wait." he reached to Kurt's hip and stroke it, causing the other man to thrust up.

"I can wait" Kurt pushed on Blaine's shoulders and chuckled as Blaine pouted and got up. "There's dinner in the oven it should be ready in ten minutes."

"Can't wait." Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt.

"Did you eat today?" Kurt asked softly and touched Blaine's cheek. "You know not eating isn't exactly healthy, right?"

"Yeah, yeah." Blaine rolled his eyes and kissed Kurt. "I know you care but I'm fine."

"I'm glad" he smiled and kissed Blaine again before going to the kitchen, making Blaine whimper at the loss of touch. Kurt chuckled and winked as he sat on the counter. "Though… I don't think I'm up for any play more than blowjobs, I'm still sore…"

"It's not a big deal." Blaine said with a smile. "We can do lots without hurting you." Kurt nodded and smiled before going to the kitchen.

It was a pure accident that when Kurt was cleaning shelves above his head one of the cream jar fell and hit his face. Kurt shrieked and jumped back, touching his cheek with a whimper, cursing himself because it was so going to leave bruises.

Santana came out of her room with raised eyebrows.

"You okay there, Princess?" she asked and entered the bathroom.

"Yeah, just come face cream trying to take away my life." Kurt joked as she moved to prepare him an ice pack.

"You're one clumsy Gay Smurf." she snorted and put the ice in a towel.

"Well, I was supposed to perform in free sing this week but I guess that's not happening."

"And why is that?" Santana looked at him and wrapped the ice in a towel before putting it on his face gently. Kurt smiled gratefully.

"I'll look like a beat up animal.' Kurt shrugged and sat on the edge of the bathtub before he grabbed the towel himself and pressed it a little harder.

"You looked much more beaten up when you got attacked by these assholes. You looked more beaten up when you faceplanted on a barre. You'll be fine now, I'm sure of it." Santana sat on his side and rubbed his back. "You'll be fine, Lady Hummel."

Kurt breathed out and sighed in relief.

"It was different both times. Now it's just a proof I'm clumsy. Don't you think people will make fun of me?" he asked unsurely. Santana furrowed her eyebrows, not missing the fact that Kurt only believed this was the effect of his clumsiness, not the previous accident. She looked up at him and crossed one leg over another, giving him time to finish and herself to hide the fast that she didn't believe him.

"I think you'll be fine, pretty face." she said confidently.

"Okay." Kurt nodded and fixed the position of the ice pack against his face.

"Let me see," Santana reached out to his face and touched his cheek. "It won't look bad" she said softly as Kurt put the ice pack down on the bathtub. "You know you can talk to me, right?"

"I know, next time the Satan face cream attacks me I'll make sure to come and vent to you," he joked and stood up.

"Hey, Satan is my nickname." Santana threw an ice cube at him as he went to the sink. Kurt chuckled and started brushing his teeth.

One Three Hill was in the middle of rehearsal when Elliott finally couldn't take it anymore. The bruise on Kurt's face was making him simply angry even though he had no reason to be actually mad because Kurt never said someone did it to him but it just felt like too much of a coincidence. The first time it was believable, the second time the explanation suggested they shouldn't try to dig into it. But three times were definitely too much and it wasn't just something Kurt could avoid talking about anymore because it was obviously something serious.

"Okay, I can't do it anymore." Elliott put down his mic and looked at Kurt. "I know you don't want to talk about it but I can't look at you like this and just stay silent." Kurt frowned and put his microphone on the stand and turned towards Elliott.

"What's up? Do you not like the songs choice?" he asked quietly and scrunched his nose when looking at the music notes he held in his hands. "I mean I like it but I'm not set on it."

"No, it's about you, Kurt." Elliott sat on the car chair by the table and motioned to the couch while Dani moved to the kitchen to make some tea.

Kurt rolled his eyes and sat down, crossing his arms on the chest. Here they were again. No matter how many times Kurt said he was okay no one believed him and it was frustrating. Everyone had trouble believing him.

"What do you want to know, then?"

"What happened to you?" Elliott pointed at Kurt's face.

"I dropped a jar of face cream on myself. Don't put heavy jars on top shelves." he shrugged and touched his cheek. "I usually put on some make up but I didn't think it was necessary for the rehearsal. I'll do that next time if you're bothered. I'm sorry."

"Kurt, we're not bothered by bruises, come on." Dani reentered the room with a tray of cups with tea. She put one in front of each of them and sat by Kurt's side.

"Well you keep making comments about every single one of them" Kurt frowned and brought his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them.

"It's okay," Elliott said gently and leaned closer. "We're not bothered, we're just worried."

"There's nothing to be worried about," Kurt said defensively.

"I think there is. And I know you feel attacked right now but we're not attacking you at all. We don't want you to feel defensive."

"I just feel like there's nothing to talk about. It was an accident this time and there's nothing to talk about." Kurt replied quietly. Dani nodded but Elliott sat up straight.

"This time?" he asked quietly and moved to sit on the armrest of the couch.

"Bad wording." Kurt said quickly and hugged his knees closer.

"Kurt, it's more than that." Dani said softly and rubbed his back.

"It's no big deal, okay? It isn't. But the first bruises weren't caused by a barre or whatever."

"Figured," Elliott said quietly and sled to the couch seat, crossing his legs. "Is he hurting you?"

"Blaine is not hurting me," Kurt sighed and bit his lip. "It was just one time. We were fighting and he accused me of cheating. I got mad, we started screaming, he slapped me. It wasn't a big deal, it's nothing. We apologised to each other, made up, moved on."

Dani looked at Elliott and they both frowned.

"Kurt, he hit you, that's not nothing." Dani said softly and reached to take Kurt's hand. "I don't think it's healthy for you to stay in a relationship like this. You're a great guy and you do deserve better than this. And I know it was a one time or two times" she pointed at Kurt's hips. "But I'm scared it's not going to be the only time and if it gets worse it'll be too late for us to help you and we really don't want that."

"Don't you think you're overreacting a little? So he slapped me. We moved on…"

"Okay, you moved on. Let's say that happened. Bruises on your hips?" Elliott raised his eyebrows.

"It's, uh… I told you it's private." Kurt looked at Dani.

"Yeah, you did. But can you tell me he didn't hurt you when he did this?"

Kurt looked down and pinched his thigh. It wasn't hard, he just had to say Blaine didn't hurt him. But Dani and Elliott were his friends and maybe the only people he knew who wouldn't judge him if he admitted that he and Blaine weren't perfect sometimes. They would understand and not judge him for not being good enough as others sometimes did. But then what if they thought Blaine was just bad for him? Kurt bit his lip and looked at Dani.

"He didn't mean to" Kurt murmured quietly.

Elliott groaned and shook his head and Dani reached out to put her hand on Kurt's knee.

"What do you mean he didn't mean to?" she asked softly.

"It's just… He said he wanted to get married. But I don't want to get married, not yet at least. So I panicked. It was silly but I panicked and I wanted to push him away but he grabbed my hips and didn't let me. And I just felt like I was going to suffocate, like I couldn't get away from him and I remembered…" Kurt stopped himself and winced. "I just wanted him away but he was gripping my hips and that's why the bruises…" Elliott clenched his teeth and stood up, going to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. Not that he was thirsty but he didn't want to get angry in front of Kurt.

"Why did he grab your hips thought?" Dani asked quietly though she already predicted what the answer would be.

"Uhm, it's really private." Kurt said quietly and blushed, trying to avoid looking at her.

"I think I know but I don't want to judge him based on my assumption, honey." she said quietly and rubbed Kurt's back.

"We were having sex when he said that. And I wanted him to get away so I pushed him away but I don't think he wanted to really stop so he held onto my hips and continued and tried to calm me down. He didn't really mean to…" Kurt's voice broke down and he buried his head in his knees.

Dani reached and hugged him awkwardly.

"Kurt, I know you don't want to hear it but you have to stop this." she said gently and rubbed up and down on his back and shoulder.

"But we're happy, we are. It's not…" he whispered and shook his head.

"I know you are. But for every happy moment there's an unhappy one and I simply don't want you to be stuck in a relationship that makes you unhappy."

"He doesn't make me…"

"Kurt, what he did was a rape, actually." Elliott reentered the room and crossed his arms on the chest.

"He didn't rape me," Kurt laughed quietly, "Come on."

Elliott shook his head and crouched down in front of Kurt, and reached for his hand.

"Listen to me, okay? I know it's hard to think about it that way because more than anything you want to believe a person you love loves you as much. I know it's hard to admit that something is not going well but your relationship is not a healthy one, as far as I know…"

"No, it's not that!" Kurt sighed and slumped against the couch. "I love Blaine, I do, don't get me wrong. But it's not why I agreed to marry him. I was already happy with someone else when he proposed but…" he sighed and crossed his legs on the couch. "Everyone loves Blaine. And no matter what happens I feel like it never changes. So it's just easier to carry on with it. And if this or that happens, it's a relationship, right? Everyone struggles in relationships."

"Not like this, Kurt." Dani said quietly and turned to face him. "You never hit him, right?"

"Of course not!"

"And why is that?"

"Why would I hit him? What is so bad that the deserves to be solved with violence? I don't think… I don't think anyone deserves to be hit. In any situation" Kurt shrugged.

"Then why are you letting it happen to you?" Elliott asked simply.

Kurt looked at him and bit his lip. Why was he, really? He didn't think anyone should be hit so why did he let himself be hit and not do anything more about it than just run for a few hours and then accept the apology and apologise himself? Kurt was better than that. Or he used to think that and suddenly he wasn't sure when he forgot about it.

"Do you really think what he did… It was a rape?" he asked quietly.

"I mean, I don't know enough about law to say what technically is a rape but you said no and he continued, and that's definitely not consensual," Elliott answered.

Kurt took a shaky breath and suddenly leaned into Dani's arms. She caught him in a hug quietly and held him as she heard his breath hitch and his body started shaking. Dani looked at Elliott and rubbed Kurt's back, making a shushing noise more as an attempt to comfort him than make him stop.

"You're okay, honey. You're going to be okay." she whispered and kissed the top of his head. She only let go a few minutes later when Kurt moved back and sniffled.

"It's just… It wasn't the first time. And I always thought everything was okay because everyone told me it was okay…"

"What did he do?" Elliott interrupted him.

"The first time… Well, before…" Kurt inhaled sharply and closed his eyes. "We weren't really…"

"It's okay, Kurt." Dani rubbed his back again and let her hand stay there as Kurt slowly relaxed.

"Before our first time, he said he wanted to wait for me so we'd both be comfortable but then he got drunk one night when we were at the gay bar and tried… At the back of the car. I got out but I had to say no so many times and I only managed to get away because he pulled me on top of him. He just kept trying and kept touching me but I thought it was okay because come on, we were boyfriends, right? And he was drunk and horny so it was okay. But it's just… I'm scared of saying no sometimes. When I got out of the hospital I didn't really want to do anything but I just didn't want to spoil the fun, you know, because he wanted to and just because I didn't feel up to, I mean…"

Elliott looked at him horrified and shook his head.

"Kurt, I have had a lot more experience with sex than you, I believe. And never, even once, I was scared that the other guy would hurt me if I said no. You shouldn't feel like he might stop listening any minute. It's not how relationships work." he explained patiently and then stood up. "I don't think you should stay here."

"What? No, that's crazy…"

"No, listen to me." Elliott asked quietly and sat by Kurt on the couch again. "You need to take a step back and get away from here. You're living with him and you can't just make a decision like this when he's here. I don't think you should be with him and I doubt Dani thinks it's a good idea either. Man, I'm pretty sure Santana thinks the same way. But we can't just force you. You need to realise it yourself, think about everything and make that decision alone. And for that to happen you need some distance from Blaine."

"What am I supposed to tell him though? Sorry, Blaine, I need to decide if I want to break up with you, be back later?" Kurt rubbed his temples and sighed.

"No, you just leave, text him, or not, that you need some time for whatever reason."

"I don't have a place to stay."

"You can stay with me." Dani offered and smiled at him.

"I don't want to cause any…"

"Shut up," she interrupted him, making Elliott chuckle. "Just pack your bag and come, it's not a problem."

Kurt nodded slowly and hugged his knees.

"What if I'm making a mistake?"

"Then you can always come back." Elliott offered him a hand to help standing up and smiled. "Come on, we'll help you pack." Half an hour later Kurt had a suitcase as well a backpack ready and he looked around the loft, stopping at the picture of him and Blaine by the door.

"He's going to be so mad." he hugged himself and bit his lip.

"He has no right to." Elliott said firmly and grabbed Kurt's backpack before taking his hand and leading him out of the room. "You're not doing anything wrong."