Here it is, chapter 10!

I decided I wanted to calm things down before the world-changing starts. So nothing major happens in this chapter, it might even be a little boring but that's just how it has to be.

Thank you soooooo much to everyone who reviewed, especially those who said it was one of or even the best chapter because I honestly didn't know what to think of it when I posted it. I NEVER POST ANYTHING I DON'T LIKE MYSELF, I don't think it's right for anyone but I just thought I might be moving too fast.

Hence, this chapter.

Hope you like it!

The Calm

"You know, you should really talk more. I mean, I understand if you don't want to but you look like you have a lot to say. I'm sure you could even shut Rachel up. And you'd be doing us a huge favor if you managed that."

Kurt smiled a little as he poked his food around his plate. The gorgeous, black, divaish girl from Glee club had been attached to his side since the first meeting. He was surprised to realize that he didn't even mind.

"By the way, how is it that you make this hideous shirt look like something out of a magazine? Did you smuggle in a sewing kit or something?" Mercedes asked.

Alright, so he was officially in love with this girl. You know, as in love as a gay guy can be in a straight gal. "I am a boy of many talents," he commented, surprising his companion. "As it turns out, double-sided tape is good for more than keeping dresses up."

It was the first light-hearted conversation Kurt had had in years. And he enjoyed every minute of it.

Elizabeth Hummel had been the best mom in the world. She had been a nanny but Kurt had never, ever felt like he had to share his mommy with Lucy. She read Lucy stories but she sang to Kurt. She took Lucy to the park but she tucked Kurt in. She told Lucy she adored her but she told Kurt she loved him.

"Check for the monsters."

"Already did, baby. Close your eyes. Mommy loves you."

Kurt thought his whole world had ended when his mother had died.

But no. Somehow, the world kept moving forward.

Burt started to attend Kurt's little tea-parties. He taught his son how to ride a bike and didn't say anything about the pink color. Okay, so the bike had been Lucy's which meant that yes, it was a girl's bike but Kurt had thought it was the amazing (which of course had nothing to do with the fact that it was only bike he had ever ridden or even seen) and Burt never argued. Back then, Kurt hadn't thought much about it. Perhaps his car-loving, horrible-shirt wearing dad liked the bike, too.

"You're doing great, buddy! That's my boy!"

And then the men-in-black had arrived. Kurt could remember when Burt had told him that they would and he remembered even better how he had cried, screamed, kicked and pushed because 'why, why, why would they do that' and 'why did Burt let them' and 'why didn't Lucy have to go, too?'

But he was a smart little kid. It didn't take too long for him to understand that this wasn't his dad's decision. The look on his face had told Kurt everything. So at some point he had ended up comforting his dad. And it hadn't even felt weird at the time.

There was no one to tuck him in at McKinley. All the kids around him were under 15 and none of the adults seemed to think they needed any TLC. Once, a girl had fallen off the swing set and broke her arm. No one had hugged her but two people had yelled at her for being clumsy. The only adult who seemed to think the children were more than just over-grown germs was the one with red hair and she was so weird. When Kurt had been sent to talk to her while he had had the flu, she had worn rubber cloves and covered her face with a mask. But despite her weirdness, she knew stuff. She knew how the system worked and she explained it to Kurt when he asked, even though she made him feel like he was five. And she had left stuff out, Kurt knew that now.

"You'll see your dad again when it's possible. It's not right now but it will be. They won't keep you two apart."

"But I wanna see him now!"

"I have a pamphlet here that..."

The system was faulted, it was unfair and it didn't care about people who didn't have money or social status. If he and Blaine were caught, Kurt would be sent to wait for his 18th birthday that would also become the day he died. Blaine would probably spend the next few years in a fancy-pants boarding school, somewhere far away.

So...

Kurt squeezed the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white. He stared at the house in which he knew Blaine was. If his owner just went home, apologized and promised he would never fall for a slave again, he could probably stay in Ohio where all his friends lived. He could go to Harvard or Standford or Juilliard... but only if he went home. Without Kurt.

So Kurt should leave. He should steal the car and drive away. Blaine would never have to know if he was caught and brought in front of a judge. A judge who had received a request for him to be executed. No, it wouldn't happen 'by the end of the week' like Richard had said but it would happen. If it had been requested, it would happen.

Kurt was replaceable.

To the system. The system thought Kurt was replaceable. The system had thought Elizabeth Hummel was replaceable.

But the Fabrays never bought a new slave to be Lucy's nanny. Lucy hadn't thought Kurt's mother could be replaced by some other lady. She read the books by herself and went to the park with her friends. And she had given Kurt the pink bike.

"I liked your mama."

And Kurt was something special to Blaine. Something even more special than what his mother had been to Lucy. Blaine wouldn't just go home and beg for forgiveness if Kurt left now. He would look for Kurt, he would pray to God to bring him back and he'd blame himself...

Alone.

"I didn't really have a purpose before you came."

"Kurt?"

Kurt nearly screamed when the car door opened. His shoulders sagged and he took a deep breath to slow down his heart when he saw David.

"Sorry. But uh... Blaine's asking for you."

Oh, Kurt couldn't leave.

"The weak don't make it in this world, Porcelain."

–

"Blow the candles out, looks like a solo tonight... I'm beginning to see the light.
Blow the candles out, looks like a solo..."

"My head won't turn off."

"...think I'll be alright."

"I... I know I have to sleep but I can't, my mind won't let me."

"Been black and blue before, there's no need to explain..."

"Kurt."

"I'm trying to sing you a lullaby."

"Is it possible? You know, to have a dad who doesn't care about your sexuality? Who accepts you as exactly who you are. Is it possible?"

For the first time since they had met each other, Kurt felt like the lucky one. "Yes. It is."

Blaine squeezed Kurt's hand a little too tightly. "I couldn't let them kill you. I couldn't... I'm so sorry, I messed up, I screwed up... Kurt, I'm so sorry, you're too important to me, I'm sorry..."

"Shh..." Kurt whispered and he knew he was right where he belonged. "Don't be sorry, I'm not mad. It's gonna be okay. We're together, that's all that matters."

"But I screwed up, Kurt! If I knew more, if I had been more careful, we wouldn't be in this mess! We would still have time to plan and if I just..."

"No more ifs, Blaine. Trust me, I've gone through all possible ifs and shoulds during the last couple of hours but if is not a magic word and it won't change anything. So shush. Okay? Just... shush." Kurt ran his fingers through the older teen's hair, freeing it from its gel-jail. His other hand was holding an icepack on Blaine's temple.

"We could use a little magic."

"Well... Have you been good this year? It is almost Christmas."

Kurt counted is a victory when Blaine actually chuckled. Before they knew it, they were both laughing so hard they were almost crying. It was more exhaustion mixed with overworking nerves than actual happiness but it lifted some of the weight from both of their shoulders. It felt good to laugh, if not a little inappropriate. It was like a band-aid to all the mental wounds that had been created that night.

"Oh God..." Blaine said, wiping the corner of his eye. "Just what the doctor ordered."

"Yeah," Kurt agreed. "And I personally think you will be on the 'good-kid' list this year."

"I ran away from home."

"To safe my life. Thank you for that, by the way. I don't think I said that."

"I did it for me as much as I did it for you," Blaine admitted. "I just can't believe he... And Maria. Oh, Maria..." He buried his face into the pillows. "She's seven. Seven and dad already has her in a leash. He's manipulating her. She could be so sweet but it's like she doesn't have a mind of her own anymore!"

Kurt didn't comment as he didn't know what to say. He had spent a few interesting, glitter-filled hours with Blaine's little sister and it was true that she had an aura of a little, spoiled princess around her. She didn't seem to want to cause any harm, she had just been raised to think she was better than everyone else and they should know that.

Which was really weird because...

"Can I say something that will sound absolutely horrible and wrong but I mean it in a good way?"

"Go ahead."

"I'm glad you didn't turn out like... she probably will." When Blaine didn't reply, Kurt continued: "I mean... She's your sister, I know, and you must love her, of course you do and it's not really her fault, is it? It's just, you were brought up in the same house, by the same people. How did you dodge the bullet?"

Blaine sighed. "She used to be sweet. Just like me, I was a super-sweet kid. All the older ladies in our neighborhood make sure to remind me of that every time they see me. And Maria... I guess I was so wrapped up in my own head that I didn't see the change. Oh God, maybe that was the change... After I went to Dalton I didn't have time for her anymore. She must have been so lonely, oh my...!"

"No, Blaine, no! Calm down, don't do this. Don't make it your fault. Don't. Just keep talking about how you were a sweet kid, okay?"

Kurt was pretty sure the circulation to his fingers had been cut off.

"I climbed to the apple tree on our backyard once. I wanted to make mom a pie for her birthday. All by myself, as a surprise so I didn't ask for help. And well, I thought she would think I was brave for climbing all the way to the top to get the best apples."

"You fell, didn't you?"

"...yeah. I wasn't really hurt that bad, I only managed to somehow cut my knee. But you know the shock that you're in when something like that happens?" Kurt nodded. "So I have no idea how long I sat there, just looking at the tree and wondering how many miles I had dropped. I waited for mom or dad to come but the one who ended up cleaning my fatal injury was Haley."

"Haley?"

"Yep. Put a Pikachu band-aid on it and told me she would be more than happy to help me with the pie but tell everyone that I made it all by myself. I was too young to understand anything else but that she was nice to me."

Well. That would make all the difference.

"I was furious when Dad told me you're coming. He wanted to make me straight and I thought it was so unfair to use anyone as tool to accomplish that. And I was so scared because I knew it wouldn't happen."

"Hmm..."

"But I never thought I'd fall in love with you."

"I didn't think I'd fall in love with you either."

"I don't even want to know what you thought of me before we met."

"You really don't."

"...I was kinda being sarcastic..."

"I wasn't."

Blaine moved so that he was leaning on his elbows. He didn't protest when Kurt wiped his gelly fingers on his shirt. "You thought I was gonna be another Dave."

Kurt took a breath before answering: "I honestly didn't think I was ever going to be bought again. I had nothing going for me. I was gay, looked like freaking doll and sounded like a girl. The only thing Ms. Sylvester counted as a positive thing on my chart was that I could cook. And a lot of slaves can cook." After a short silence he decided to add: "She made me one of her favorites because she didn't want me to be the first slave she'd have to sell to a pimp. When I was bought because I was gay, she knew what your father wanted of me. And she was so disappointed. She would never show it to a client but she was."

"I never..."

"I know. But it was still why your dad wanted me."

Blaine didn't argue with that and Kurt was grateful. The edges of his thoughts were fogging and he could feel how his eyes tried to shut. His body was telling his mind it was time to let everything sink in and let tomorrow worry about itself.

But it was a minute past midnight and tomorrow didn't want to wait.

The door burst open. Blaine, who obviously thought it was Wes or David, opened his mouth but stopped when he saw the intruder.

Kurt's jaw dropped.

"Dolphin!"

"Here."

Kurt frowned when the taller-than-normal boy from Glee, Finn, held out the sweater some other kids had thought would be fun to steal. He hadn't particularly missed it, it was... well... fugly... but it was also warm so he took it with a small smile. "Thanks."

"No problem." Finn put his hands in his pockets, clearly not sure if he should just leave or say something else. Kurt waited, not really caring either way. "Uh... What those guys do to you... It's not cool. I can talk to them if you want to. And Puck... He's starting to warm up about everything. So just... hang in there?"

"O...kay?" Kurt said. He could see Finn was honestly trying to be nice so he let the 'hang-in-there' -advice fly.

"And hey. I thought the song you sang was pretty cool. Defying Vanity..."

"Gravity," Kurt corrected automatically.

"Right. Anyway, I had no idea guys could sing like that. So, really. Nice job."

Kurt could feel himself blushing so he looked down to his shoes. His ugly, ugly shoes.

"I'll see in you Glee!"

"Right. Okay."

Mercedes and Finn. He could make it here.

Hope you like cliff-hangers!

So ch.11 will include some epic planning and ch.12 will take us to... dun dun dun.

Did you really think i was gonna spoil my own story?

*wink*

Thank you for reading, I'll see you next time! Adios for now!