A/N: The song in this chapter is I'm Not Afraid of Anything from the show, Songs for a New World.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee.

For Good

Chapter 10: I'm Not Afraid of Anything

The halls of Dalton Academy were a strange place for Kurt Hummel on his first day back. They felt exactly the same as when he had left them, forcing him to remember that last walk from the dorms to the parking lot before everything changed. It was odd being back after everything that had happened. He felt like a completely different person upon reentering.

Apparently, the population of Dalton had also noticed this change, for as Kurt walked down the halls, hand-in-hand with Blaine, he could see and feel their stares following him. He knew it had nothing to do with the two boys opening showing affection through their joined hands in public. They'd done so on many occasions and were rarely noticed while doing so. No, these people weren't staring at the two of them. They were staring at Kurt. They knew about the attack.

The thought made Kurt want to run and hide, but looking at Blaine, he remembered the song the curly-haired boy had sung to him and regained his resolve. His peers only knew that he'd been physically assaulted…nothing else. They couldn't possibly know about…yeah. Squeezing Blaine's hand, Kurt continued on his way towards the choir room. Though he wasn't sure how the Warblers felt about him really, he was glad to get back to singing. It had been Blaine's voice that brought him back from the land of the dead and music had always been his savior through times of trouble.

When they joined the Warblers, it was clear they had heard something too. They stared at Kurt and seemed to shuffle around him, not getting too close. During the rehearsal of one of their numbers for regionals, James had accidentally brushed Kurt and apologized profusely for it. Then Cameron tripped into him. Kurt would later admit to himself that it had momentarily scared the crap out of him, but Cameron's begging for forgiveness seemed a little overdone. "Okay, seriously, what is going on?" Kurt asked of all the Warblers during their break.

Nobody volunteered an answer, looking sheepishly at one another. Kurt studied all of their faces until he landed on the face of Louis. The tall, thin boy looked a little worse for wear. He had circles under his eyes and he seemed paler than usual. The other Warblers didn't look much better. Had they all been that worried?

"Well," James finally started. "We heard about what happened to you and got to thinking about that time we pestered you about those rumors, why you transferred and whatever. We didn't know how bad it was at McKinley. We didn't know you were running away from some crazy jock rapist."

Rapist? "Yeah, and then we thought you probably were still hurt or didn't want to be touched, so we've been trying to be careful," Cameron explained.

"We just figured that if some big guy had done that to you, you probably wouldn't want other guys touching you. We didn't want to freak you out or anything," Wes told him.

"What the guys are trying to say," David interrupted, always the responsible one, "is that we're sorry about what happened to you as well as about the rumors, and we want to make your return to Dalton as comfortable as possible."

Kurt was shaking now. They knew the whole thing. They knew that Dave Karofsky had raped him in the Dalton Academy parking lot, right against his car. Blaine must have seen him trembling, growing paler by the second, as he placed his hand at the small of his back, guiding him to sit down in on the of the choir room's chairs. "H-How did you all know about…" he choked on his own words.

Any other day, Jacob Ben Israel would have loved to have been shoved into a locker by two beautiful females. The problem was these were two beautiful, angry females, a deadly combination for the target of said anger. So when Jacob was faced by the seething Evangeline and the already-fucking-frightening-on-a-normal-basis Santana, he could do nothing but quiver. "U-Uh…ladies?"

"How did you get that information about Kurt, you little fucker?" Santana asked furiously. The second the two girls had read the blog entry, they were the first to rush to find Jacob and scare him out of his wits. Santana was doing a fine job of it too.

"I-I have the choir room bugged. I h-heard you and M-Mercedes Jones talking about it," he replied, motioning to Evangeline. "Anyone is f-fair game to the press, especially when it comes out that one of our athletes is a closet gay."

"It wasn't your business to post about something so private. Do you have a shred of human decency?" Evangeline asked, slamming her palm into the locker next to Jacob's head. "Did you stop to think for a moment what this might do to the victim of this situation, who might not want it spread around?"

"M-Maybe I didn't think about that. But the p-press—"

"Fuck the press! You want to go to prison for illegally recording private conversations? Leaving microphones in the choir room isn't legal, even if you were considered a member of the press," Santana reminded him.

"The damage is already done, but you will take down that post. And if I see the names of any of my family members, or any other homosexual youth you'd like to force out of the closet, I'd watch my back if I were you," Evangeline added before letting go of him. She and Santana gave him one last glare, hooked arms and made their way back towards the choir room, where the rest of the glee club would be waiting.

As soon as Evangeline entered, everyone had questions for her.

"Why didn't Kurt tell us?" asked Quinn.

"Karofsky's gay?" was Sam's question.

"So that limp he had…" Tina didn't finish the thought, but sat there silently with a sad look on her face, only smiling sadly when Mike took her hand in his own.

Artie was shell-shocked by the revelation and nearly had to be wheeled by Brittany to the nearest bathroom in order to vomit.

"What's going to be done with Karofsky? He can't get away with this," Mike mentioned.

Mr. Schuester was pale with guilt. "I should have done something when I could. I didn't realize it was getting this bad," he said.

Evangeline took a deep breath, still standing before her teammates. Gathering the strength she needed from a pat on the shoulder from Santana and a warm glance from Puck, she started answering their questions as best as she could. "Mr. Schue, please don't do that to yourself. There's a stubborn gene in our family that keeps us from telling others about our problems." She looked at Puck who raised an eyebrow in return. "You didn't have all of the facts because Kurt didn't offer them. Kurt wouldn't want you to blame yourself. He didn't want anyone worrying about him so he decided to keep it in the family. He was embarrassed. Kurt decided that instead of trying to get Karofsky convicted in this flawed legal system, he wanted to make sure Karofsky was getting help. He's in counseling now and his parents are keeping a close eye on him."

"What do we do now? There has to be something we can do for him," Tina said, biting her lip nervously.

"We'll sing," Mercedes said, standing up. "Mr. Schue, I have something I've been working on for a while."

Kurt stared blankly at the computer screen. No matter how far away he went, it seemed that he couldn't escape McKinley and that ridiculous Jacob Ben Israel. He read the words over and over again as though hoping they'd suddenly change and everyone would forget exactly what they had read. How the population of Dalton Academy had even come across the blog was beyond him, but the damage had already been done. Everybody knew. "Blaine, what am I going to do? I'm so embarrassed," Kurt said, covering his face with his hands in exasperation.

Smiling, Blaine pulled Kurt away from the computer so that the taller boy stood before him. Cupping his face in his hands, the dapper boy kissed the corner of Kurt's mouth softly before looking him square in the eyes. "Kurt, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. Nobody here is going to judge you because of what happened," he said. "Everyone just wants to make sure that you're alright."

Kurt blushed. "I wish they would just treat me normally so we could all just forget the whole thing," he replied.

"That wouldn't be good either," Blaine mentioned. "You can't just forget about these kinds of things. You have to deal with it, Kurt."

"You don't understand!" Kurt said, pulling away to sit on his bed.

It would be a lie to say the words hadn't stung Blaine. He was always doing his best to be understanding, to be patient and caring. But he kept the hurt out of his expression as he sat down next to Kurt. "Maybe I don't. I don't talk about this too often, but I transferred to Dalton when the bullying at my school got pretty intense. Columbus is a more forgiving place than Lima, but we're still in Ohio. There was this group of guys, jock of course, who used to push me around every now and again. One day, they caught me on my way from glee club. Nobody else was around, and it seemed they were waiting for me. They beat the crap out of me with baseball bats and then left me behind one of the school dumpsters. My older brother, Reese, found me around midnight and took me to the hospital. Broken ribs, punctured lung, broken leg, sprained wrist, swollen face, broken nose, and a concussion. I remember that moment before blacking out; I thought I was going to die.

"After that, I came to Dalton. I was scared of everything though. You can ask Wes or David. They had to bribe me out of my room except for class and meals. I kept wondering when I was going to be attacked next, who it would be. David heard me singing in my room and forced me to join the Warblers. Singing and becoming comfortable with the Warblers…those guys healed me."

Kurt listened carefully to the story, taking Blaine's hand and biting his lip nervously. "I'm sorry—"

"I might not understand what it's like to have been raped, but I know what it's like to be scared of everything, of trusting people, of being myself. You don't have to feel like you're alone in that."

Looking over at Blaine, Kurt trembled. "I-I'm so scared of being alone, of everyone leaving," he admitted.

Blaine smiled again and leaned over to press a kiss against Kurt's temple. "You'll never be alone so you don't have to be afraid of that."

And Kurt believed him.

Looking in the mirror of the girls' bathroom, Evangeline did her best to relax her face, the tension from the past few weeks becoming more and more apparent as time went by. There was so much to worry about, her mind didn't know what to focus on first. There was Kurt's return to Dalton. The fact that he wasn't home where she knew he was okay made her incredibly nervous, though she trusted Blaine to take good care of him. Then there was Noah. He'd become a little distant since the night she met his mother. It seemed almost like he wanted to ask her about something but couldn't. Maybe he was going to break up with her. The thought made her feel physically ill.

Still, Noah wasn't the worst of her worries. That prize would go to Jared. Opening her cell phone, she opened the text she'd received that morning. I'm coming for you, it read. Gulping, she shoved the phone back in her bag and resumed fixing her hair. After she'd regained memories of that awful night, Jared had been always present in her thoughts. Either that or he interrupted other thoughts in his way. One moment she was explaining to the glee club what happened to Kurt; the next, she was staring at her phone in disbelief and horror.

The sound of the bathroom door opening caused Evangeline to jump. But when she turned, she found it was just Rachel, coming in to do exactly what Evangeline was doing, primping. "Are you alright?" she asked, seeing the fright on the short-haired girl's face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little jumpy," she replied.

"You sure? I know you tend to hide things until you're about to burst. You can talk to me, you know," Rachel told her. "I've been told that I have excellent listening skills."

Evangeline snorted. "Don't worry about it, Rachel."

Rachel frowned. "So, we're close enough friends that you can tell your uncle you're at my house instead of telling him that you're actually sleeping over your boyfriend's, but you can't confide in me at all?" she asked.

Sighing, Evangeline knew she was caught by logic and turned to face Rachel. "I'm worried about everything, that everything is about to fall to pieces. I'm worried about Kurt and how he's doing back at school. I'm worried about regionals and singing and playing in front of a big audience. I'm worried about my uncle, who might keel over from all of the stress he's in. I'm worried that Noah is going to up and leave me any minute when he realizes that I'm too much of a burden…" She opened her mouth to add that she was worried about Jared, but then refrained, biting her lip instead. "But I don't want to talk about it."

"We're all worried about Kurt, Evangeline. When Finn told me—"

"Finn told you? It's great that you're back together, but—"

"We're not back together. We're just talking." Rachel shook her head, realizing that she was getting off topic. "The point is, everyone is worried. You don't have to be so guarded. New Directions has been through a lot, and we made it through it all because we were there for one another."

When Evangeline didn't say anything, she continued. "I've seen you open up, Evangeline. You did it when you told us about your parents, when you finally told them how you feel. And when you perform, you let go so much. You show everyone exactly what you're feeling at that precise moment. Why can't you just do that now?" she asked.

"It's not that easy…"

The bathroom door opening interrupted her as Quinn peeked her head in. "Hey, Mercedes is ready."

Glancing at one another, Evangeline and Rachel nodded before making their way out of the bathroom and towards the auditorium where the rest of the glee club was seated except Mercedes. She was up on stage, ready to perform what she'd been working on all week. Tina had Mercedes' camera in hand, ready to go.

Mercedes stepped up to the microphone. "I know that this is supposed to be for Kurt, and it is. But it's also for all of you, or for anyone who ever hears this song," she said before the music started.

Jenny's afraid of water

I mean, she swims so well, but still

She's afraid of water

And she won't go near the sea

Not me

Katie's afraid of darkness

I mean, she sleeps and all, but still

She's afraid of darkness

So when the lights go out, she has to hold my hand

I don't understand

I'm not afraid of anything

Be it mountains, water, dragons, dark or sky

I'm not afraid of anything

Tell me where's the challenge if you never try

So what me fly

I'm not afraid

Evangeline listened to the words Mercedes sang and looked to her right, where Puck sat, gazing up at the stage. She was so afraid of losing him, and it seemed to be this fear that made it a possibility that he might leave. Perhaps, Rachel was right. Maybe it was time to sit down and tell him what she remembered, the text she got this morning. Or maybe she should break the whole thing off, keep him safe. If Jared was coming for her…she didn't want to involve Puck in the mess. It's this kind of thinking that Rachel was talking about, she thought to herself before turning her view back towards the stage.

Daddy's afraid of babies

I mean, he got through me, but now

He's afraid of babies

Guess he's scared of what they'll be

Not me

And Mama's afraid of crying

You know, she tries to hold it in

But she's afraid of crying

And she can look at me with tears stuck in her eyes

And I don't know why

I'm not afraid of anything

Be it growing old or going out of style

I'm not afraid of anything

Who would give up what they want without a trial

Another mile

I'm not afraid

Kurt glanced over at Blaine who was enraptured by Mercedes' video on the computer screen. It was like Mercedes had known exactly what to say. Hearing her song made him feel strong again, made him think that maybe he could be as brave and honest as she is. He'd never seen his friend look so beautiful and confident and only wished that he was physically there to see her in this form.

It was decided. From that moment on, he would strive to be just like her.

Pulling Blaine towards him, he brought their lips together.

And I feel the calling of adventure

And I hear the ringing in my ear

The lights are glaring

Trumpets blaring

I'm right here

And I hear the calling of tomorrow

And I feel the stirring in my bones

And David loves me

He's afraid to hold me

David gasped from his spot in the isle of the auditorium. He'd received a text telling him a time and a place and here he was, watching the girl he was afraid to love as she laid it all out for him. He didn't notice the eyes of the other glee-clubbers on him as they suddenly noticed his presence. He only had eyes for Mercedes and she for him. When she picked him out in the audience, the song was directed towards him. More and more passion leaked from her voice as the song became more emotional.

Listen to the calling of excitement

Can you feel the pounding of my heart

The lights are ready

Pulse is steady

I can start

Never stop the calling of a challenge

Blessing on the water and the stones

The music became soft now, and Mercedes stared at David as she continued to sing softly.

And David loves me

He's afraid to tell me

David loves me

He's afraid to trust me

He's afraid to hold me

And he'll always be

He's afraid of me

And I'm not afraid of anyone

I am sure to win with anyone at all

I'm not afraid of anyone

Not a soul can get behind this wall

So let them call

And watch them fall

Cause after all

One final pause.

I'm not afraid.

The auditorium burst into applause as Mercedes took her bows, smiling brightly as though she hadn't just given the most emotionally charged performance the group had seen in a while. Most of the glee club had been reduced to tears. Even Puck had dabbed at his eyes, trying to do so without anyone noticing.

"David, what the hell are you waiting for?" Mike yelled. Then the club forgot their tears and started shouting and laughing and whistling. Calls of "Get it!" and "Go for it David!" and others that—due to Santana's obscene nature—shouldn't be repeated were heard among the group. Even Mr. Schuester laughed and clapped as David ran up to the stage where his woman was waiting. Nothing could be heard above the cheers as he took Mercedes into his arms and kissed her.

"Noah, can I talk to you about something?"

This was it. She had to tell him everything. Her nerves had her shaking as the two of them made it through the empty halls of McKinley. It was good that it was so empty after glee club. She didn't want anyone else hearing what it was she had to tell him.

"Uh, sure," he said, frowning. They stood, facing each other, neither of them touching, just looking at one another carefully.

Taking a deep breath, she began. "You know how I couldn't remember what Jared had done to me that one night?" He nodded. "When we were at your house, I dreamed about it and remembered the whole thing. I don't know why it happened then and there, but I didn't want to tell you because…because I was scared."

Puck shook his head, still frowning. "This is what pisses me off, Evangeline! I don't know how many times I have to tell you that you can confide in me, that I won't judge you or leave you. Nothing I say can get through that thick skull of yours," he ground out.

"Noah, I'm trying…"

"No, you're not. You think you can push and push me away and then just decide that you want to confide in me. I know I'm supposed to say things like 'I'll wait until you're ready to talk about it' but I can't! Not now. I tell you everything, Evangeline. I told you about Quinn about Beth. I answered all of your questions. You, apparently, don't think I'm worthy enough to deserve the same," he told her.

"Noah, please—" Tears made their way down her face now.

"I love you, Evangeline, but I can't do this! I can't be strung along, pretending everything is peachy when I know you're keeping shit from me. Important shit, too! You won't go to the cops about this Jared douche, so if you don't tell me things, how do you expect me to make sure you're safe? I can't! I spend all day anxious as hell because I'm scared shitless." He ran a hand over his face. "This isn't even me! Somehow you turned me into this lame guy. I could go from girl to girl and not give a shit. Now I'm paranoid, stressed and losing my badassness."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to be getting in the way of your badassness. I thought you wanted to be my boyfriend, Noah. That's what you made it seem like when you told me I wasn't just a quick fuck! When you told me you loved me!" she yelled.

"I do love you! I just said that! But all of this crap that you're keeping from me is making me think it was a lot easier when I thought you were just another quick fuck!"

"You know what? Fine. Go back to your sluts and cougars if you think it'll be so much easier. Fuck you, Noah Puckerman." When she walked past him, he grabbed her wrist to pull her back. "Let go of me, asshole, right fucking now."

She was so angry and sad and frightened that she was trembling. "No, I'm not finished," he said. "I never said I wanted to go back to just fucking around."

"That's what you made it sound like."

"Shut up, Evangeline." When silence took her, he continued. "You know I don't want that! I just don't understand how I'm expected to change myself to deserve you when you don't make an effort to do the same."

"Noah, I was upfront when I said I have baggage. Keeping things to myself, that's part of it. And to be frank, this is the exact reason I do it. This is what happens when I tell. A fight and then I leave." It was exactly what happened when she left New York. Everything fell to pieces.

"Fuck baggage, Evangeline! That's all you go on about. You have baggage, but you do nothing about it! You don't deal with it!"

"Fuck you!" she shouted, yanking her wrist from his hand. "I'm standing here trying to deal with it, trying to tell you! But fuck it!" She took a shuddering breath. "You should be happy now. You don't have to be anxious or paranoid anymore. Your badassness will be completely restored. Goodbye, Noah."

And he watched her walk away, her heels clicking as she made her way down the hall. The second he realized everything that had just happened, he slammed his fist against the nearest locker, ignoring the pain and bleeding that resulted. "Fuck!"

One text to Rachel resulted in a gaggle of girls on the Hummels' front porch. They were led up by Finn to her bedroom and had to coax her to open the door to let them in. What they found once she unlocked the door was a mess. Tears had caused mascara to run. Her hair looked like a bird's nest. She had changed into sweats, something she'd only let the girls see her in when they slept over. "Oh, Eve, baby, are you alright?" Mercedes asked, taking the girl into her arms.

Evangeline sobbed incessantly into Mercedes' shoulder before realizing something. "Shouldn't you be out with David? You guys didn't all have to come here," she said.

"David can wait. He had to get back to Dalton anyway."

"Evangeline, I meant what I told you. We get through all of this by being there for each other. So when we hear that something like this has happened…this is the only place we could possibly be," Rachel told her, coming close to stroke the short, blonde locks.

"We all love you, Eve," Tina added, taking her hand.

"And we'd have brought the boys," Quinn said, looking at Finn who stood in the doorway, "but they don't know how to deal with things like this." Taking this as a hint to get out, Finn nodded and left.

"Thank God. I don't want any male to see me like this," Evangeline sobbed and laughed at the same time. "Th-Thank you guys so much for coming."

So the team got to it. Santana broke out the makeup wipes to remove the dredged traces of mascara. Tina and Brittany went out to buy Evangeline's favorite kinds of ice cream, chocolate and potato chips. Mercedes picked out some chick-flicks for the group to watch all night. Quinn spread out all of the blankets and sleeping bags so the girls could all cuddle and watch movies. Once everyone got back and into pajamas, they were all bundled up, Evangeline in the middle of the group with them on each side. "You want to tell us what happened?" Rachel asked.

"I don't know. The second I told him what was going on, he got so angry about me always keeping things from him…I mean, I guess he was right about that, but I'm trying to change it. And then he starts going on about how much easier it was to just fuck around, so I told him to go back to his sluts…no offence, Santana." The Latina girl nodded. "He said I don't deal with my issues and that being with me made him anxious and paranoid because I wasn't telling him anything."

"Oh boy…it's worse than I thought," Rachel said, looking at the other girls.

"No, I was wrong too. I should have told him what I was worried about from the beginning. I would have apologized if he let me finish telling him everything before telling me what a pain in his ass I was," she cried.

"See, this is why I don't get into relationships," Santana said. "Too messy. And Puckerman doesn't know how it goes. He doesn't do relationships."

"It sounds like it freaked him out just how quickly he changed from the man-slut of McKinley to a boyfriend," Quinn added. "It's a cliché, but it probably scares him how much he cares."

"Maybe you're right, Santana. I should just stay away from relationships and just sleep around," Evangeline said, sniffling. "It never ends well."

"I never said you shouldn't be in a relationship, but, you know, if you ever need someone to make out with, I'm available now that Brit is all monogamous," Santana offered.

"Really?" Evangeline asked.

"Yeah, you're hot," Santana replied.

More tears cascaded down Evangeline's face as she dug into the Ben & Jerry's Phish Food ice cream. "That's the nicest thing any girl has ever said to me," she cried.

"Do you think you and Puck are finished then?" Tina asked to change the subject, though she would later admit to Mike that most of the girls had found the idea of Santana and Evangeline making out to be a pretty appealing one.

"Yeah, you heard. He wants floosies. No offence, Santana." Again, the girl shrugged. "It's over."

"How you feeling, dude?"

Puck looked up from the toilet to see Sam standing over him. Oh yeah, some of the guys had found him and brought him to Sam's house. "I'm cool," Puck replied, bringing his hand up to scratch the back of his head to find that it was bandaged. "What's this?"

"You punched a locker, remember? I wrapped it up for you. Let's get you in bed," Sam suggested, wrapping one of Puck's arms around his shoulders so he could hoist the other male up and towards the bedroom before depositing him on the bed as Mike and Artie watched from the other side of the room. "Come on, Puck. This is how you deal with breakups?"

"Don't know…never broke up with anyone before," he admitted. "Why does she have to be so frustrating? Even now that I'm free of her I can't sleep or eat."

"You can sure as hell drink though," Mike added.

"Ha fucking ha!" Noah replied sloppily.

"Puck, you really need a better way of dealing with this," Artie mentioned. "I know you guys just broke up a couple of hours ago, but drinking yourself to oblivion isn't going to help."

Forcing himself to sit up, Noah rocked back and forth uncontrollably while trying to remain upright. "You're…you're right, obi wan. I need to sleep with someone. Where's Santana?" he asked, standing up.

Luckily, Sam pushed him back down. "I don't think that's what he means, Puck. You sober enough to tell us what happened?"

"She thinks she can just push me away and then whenever she wants to tell me something, I'm just magically going to be ready to listen. Everything's always on her schedule, it's all about her and her baggage. What the fuck ever! I can hang out with my boys more now. And I can drink more now. And I can fuck more now. Relationships suck!" he said before letting himself fall back onto the mattress so he stared at the ceiling. "But I miss her already. Maybe I should call her!"

"No! No no no no no no!" Mike said, snatching the phone before Puck could start dialing the numbers.

"What the hell, Chang? Give me my cell back!"

"You can talk to Eve when you've sobered up. I don't think it'll make a good impression if you have to stop mid sentence to puke," he mentioned. "You can have it back tomorrow morning."

Artie wheeled himself closer to Puck's bed to pat him on the top of his mohawk. "Puck, if you really do miss her…make sure to do something about it tomorrow. Don't just let her walk away," he said, causing the mohawk-bearing teen to look over at him.

The door to the bedroom opened to reveal Finn who scrunched his nose at the aroma of alcohol and vomit. "Dude," he said, looking at Sam, "it's a good thing your parents are out of town. How much did he have to drink?"

"You don't want to know," Mike replied.

"Finn!" Puck shouted, sitting up again. "You tell that cousin of yours that I don't need her. She can go to somebody else with her problems. Fuckin' Jared…"

"Whoa, was she telling you something about Jared?" Finn asked. The boys looked a little confused, but Puck started laughing hysterically. "Puck. Puck!" Finn took his friend by the shoulders and shook him. "You need to focus. What did she tell you?"

"Nothing! She just said she remembered that night where he beat the crap out of her, dreaming about it or something…" he trailed off.

"Shit, man. So basically, she tried to tell you about how her last boyfriend beat her to the point where she couldn't remember him doing it, and you decided yelling at her was the best reaction? Am I getting this right?" Finn asked.

"Fuck you, man. Should have known you'd side with her."

"It's not about sides! That guy is still out there, Puck, and she's scared. Can you really blame her for not telling you? Look at her parents. She told them and they told her she was crazy, being dramatic. She's used to people telling her she's lying," he went on.

"Dude, is that true?" Sam asked. "Puck, did she say anything else?"

"No…" He had to think pretty hard to remember exactly how their conversation had gone. "But I think she didn't try to say something else. I was just so angry with her that I couldn't hear it."

"What the fuck? Puck, you know that this guy is after her. What if he made contact with her or something?" Finn asked.

"Calm down. She's fine. She's with the girls at your place, right?" Artie asked. "When you get home, just ask her about it."

Puck seemed to sober at the idea of Jared having contacted Evangeline. "Shit," he said to himself, lying back on the bed once more.

"It's nice to meet you, Kurt. My name is Dr. Donovan. The headmaster alerted me of your situation when it first happened. I hope you and I will be a good fit. Not every counselor and counselee fit together, but we'll do our best." Kurt nodded, watching the older man reach for a notepad and a pen as he sat across from him. "I want to precursor our sessions by saying that everything is confidential. I will never tell anyone what is said in this room. This is a safe space. I'm not here to judge, only to advise and help you through this difficult time."

"Thank you," Kurt said meekly.

"Now, Kurt, I'm going to ask you some questions. If you don't want to answer some of them, that's alright, but it'll help me to help you. If you don't want to tell me something just yet, please don't lie. The more you can tell me the better. Understand?" Kurt nodded. "Good. Now, have you been having any flashbacks or nightmares about the attack?"

When considering how much he wanted to tell this man, Kurt thought of Mercedes and how brave she was. For the sake of her relationship with David and for the low morale of her friends, she laid everything on the line. Now, he wanted to do the same for himself and for Blaine and his family and friends. He wouldn't be afraid. "Yeah…it started once I was off of the pain meds. Every time I go to sleep it's the only thing I can think about. And when my boyfriend and I try to be…intimate, I feel like it's happening all over again unless I can see his face."

"You and your boyfriend, had you been intimate before the attack?"

Kurt blushed. "No…I mean, we did stuff, but we never went…all the way or anything like that," he replied.

"And how's your libido now?"

"Er…I don't know."

"Have you been able to hold an erection?"

Wow, this was getting personal pretty quickly. "W-Well…no…I don't really get aroused…ever," he said.

"But you did before the attack?" Seeing that Kurt was embarrassed, he smiled. "It's okay, Kurt. I know it's difficult to talk about, but it's important."

"I did as much as any normal teenage male."

"And do you get anxious when you're reminded about the attack?" the counselor asked. Was this guy really a counselor or a legit psychiatrist? Kurt noted that Ms. Pillsbury would never have asked questions like this. And he wouldn't put it past Dalton to hire a psychiatrist for the boys who stressed over their difficult courses.

"Yeah, um, I usually freak out a little bit," he admitted.

"Can you tell me about the attack? Just tell me everything you can remember," Dr. Donovan said in a calm, soothing voice.

"U-Um…well, I was walking out to my car to get my book. He came up behind me when I was closing the trunk of my car. I…I-I can't remember what exactly he said to me. He had this crazy look on his face like he had no control over what he was doing. He hit me in the face and the stomach until I was pretty out of it and couldn't struggle..." He really didn't want to go any further than that, even though he could hear Mercedes' voice singing in his ear. Maybe he was a little scared.

"Do you blame yourself?"

"I should have been able to push him off," Kurt replied, looking down at his lap.

"Kurt, I believe you're suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. It's completely natural considering what you've been through." He paused, scribbling onto his notepad. "It feels as though you're trying to forget what happened to you. Repressing those memories isn't going to help you. You have to face it, deal with it, and let it become part of your past."

"How do I do that?" Kurt asked.

"By talking about it. Don't close yourself off, Kurt. We'll focus on certain aspects of what you're feeling about the attack. Your guilt, for example…we'll talk through that so I can understand why you feel that way and so we can go about changing it. Does that sound good to you Kurt?" Dr. Donovan questioned, earning himself a nod from Kurt. "Good, now, I think this has been a lucrative first session, so I'll let you go."

Kurt eagerly stood. "One more, Kurt." Turning to face the doctor again, he waited. "When you have flashbacks or nightmares, try to think of a way of calming yourself down. Some people use counting or singing."

"O-Okay…thanks, Doctor," he said before exiting the office.

As awkward and difficult as it had been, Kurt felt as though a small weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

Mercedes Jones tagged herself and David Thompson in a video.

Evangeline Anne Hummel, Kurt Hummel and 27 others like this.

Sam Evans: Sorry, Blaine, but I think Mercedes just outdid you.

Mercedes Jones likes this.

Blaine Anderson: I'll willingly give up my title to her.

Mercedes Jones likes this.

Santana Lopez: Wheezy, you've got balls. Take notes, Thompson.

David Thompson: …

Kurt Hummel: Way to go, bb!

Evangeline Anne Hummel: I keep crying, watching this! Mercedes, this is what you've reduced me to!

Tina Cohen-Chang: Me toooooooooo

Rachel Berry: I've already suggested to Mr. Schuester that you perform this at regionals.

Evangeline Anne Hummel, Quinn Fabray and 20 others like this.

Quinn Fabray: You mean you'll voluntarily give away the solo?

Rachel Berry: I'm not an idiot. What Mercedes did is pure genius.

Mercedes Jones likes this.

Mercedes Jones: Thanks, guys. :)

Mercedes Jones and David Thompson are in a relationship.

Kurt Hummel, Sam Evans and 52 others like this.

Wes Richter: About time.

Blaine Anderson: Seriously…good thing Mercedes is the one wearing the pants here.

Mercedes Jones likes this.

David Thompson: Hey!

Quinn Fabray: Congrats, you two!

Tina Cohen-Chang: I'm going to pretend I didn't sit here refreshing my newsfeed, waiting to see this pop up.

Kurt Hummel: Ditto.

Evangeline Anne Hummel is single.

Wes Richter likes this.

Wes Richter: YES

Kurt Hummel: What happened?

Evangeline Anne Hummel: I'll call you later.

Tina Cohen Chang: :(

Mercedes Jones: I can't believe how sad this makes me. Call me anytime, bb.

Noah Puckerman is single.

Sam Evans: You alright, man? You had a lot to drink last night.

Artie Abrams: Take care of yourself, alright?

Mike Chang: Hey, I forgot to give you your phone back. I'm stopping over.

Evangeline Anne Hummel is so grateful to have such good friends.

Kurt Hummel is not afraid of anything.

Mercedes Jones, Evangeline Anne Hummel and 54 others like this.

Evangeline looked at the computer screen as her fellow female glee-clubbers slept on her bedroom floor. "Kurt Hummel is not afraid of anything." Glancing at her packed bags, she bit her lip.

"I am."

A/N: Is it wrong that I'm shipping Eve/Santana a tiny bit after writing this chapter?