Hey! Sorry I've been taking longer than usual, it's been busy for me, and I'll probably still be busy for a while. It's my birthday week and my entire town is surrounded by fire, if you've heard about it. #SouthernCaliforniaProblems. That said, I think I'll be wrapping up this story within a couple more chapters. The plot's almost done here, so all I need to think about now is how to end it nicely :) Enjoy, chapter 10!

~*~xo~*~

"Hey," Blaine says softly as he walks into the tent that Kurt's in.

Kurt looks a bit panicked as he replies, "What was that gunshot? Is anyone hurt? Are you okay?" He rushes forward, cupping Blaine's face in his hands and looking him over in concern.

Blaine smiles a little at this. Kurt was always so caring. "No, I'm fine. Everyone's fine. Well… except for maybe Santana and Brittany. Britt turned and Santana had no choice but to shoot her. It was kind of painful to watch." Blaine pauses for a moment before reaching up to gently grab Kurt's hand. "Are you okay? Puck mentioned to me that you were crying when you walked away."

Kurt quickly dismisses Blaine's worry by shaking his head. "No, I was just a bit upset. Heat of the moment, I guess. I felt guilty at the time, but I figured that Santana was just really distraught. I shouldn't take anything that she says to heart right now."

"Good," Blaine smiles, squeezing Kurt's hand.

"How about," Kurt begins, "We distract ourselves for a while. I have laundry to do. You and I could go down by the lake by ourselves and do it. We could talk, only about happy things, while we get it done. It's a beautiful lake. Very calming."

Smiling bright, Blaine nods his head. "That sounds perfect."

Kurt smiles brightly at Blaine. He quickly pulls his over to the laundry bag, grabbing it and picking it up. He squeezes Blaine's hand and pulls them out of the tent. Blaine follows behind Kurt as they swiftly make their way in the direction of the lake. As they pass a certain point, Kurt tenses greatly.

"What's wrong?" Blaine asks, turning his head to Kurt in concern. "Is something bothering you?"

Quickly shaking his head, Kurt tries to reassure Blaine, "No, I'm fine. I'm okay, there's not anything wrong. Don't worry." He speaks a little too quickly for Blaine's liking.

Narrowing his eyes, Blaine presses further. "Are you sure…? Don't forget how well I know you. I know when you're upset. And you're upset. May I remind you that I'm your husband. You can tell me everything and anything. That's why I'm here, honey."

Kurt nearly breaks down right there in front of Blaine. He nearly tells him what happened with Finn, but he refrains. He doesn't want to cause any more drama in their lives. Especially Blaine's; they had just been reunited two days ago, they shouldn't have any drama yet. Kurt needed to provide happiness to Blaine for at least a little while longer, because that's what he deserved.

"I know, Blaine. I'm okay, don't worry. Please," Kurt's tone all but pleads with Blaine.

"Okay," Blaine replies, completely unconvinced.

Kurt drops the laundry bag to the ground as they finally reach the lake. He directs Blaine over to his usual laundry-doing spot, waiting until they're both situated before pulling out the first garment to wash and handing it to Blaine. He grabs it from Kurt and begins to dunk it underwater. Both of them sit in silence, the only noise around coming from the steady dunking of clothes. Blaine finally speaks, breaking the silence.

"So, how long have you known these people?"

Kurt looks up from his work and replies, "A couple months. I met them a few days after this all started, thankfully. Rachel and I were together the night that we evacuated, so we stuck together the whole time. Once we came across this little settlement these people have… We were so happy. We hadn't had an actual place to stay for a couple days. We were basically kicked out of our homes and told that we weren't allowed to travel with anyone but family, for God knows why. It was so scary. I know this is going to sound so pathetic, but… What made it even worse is that you weren't there to protect me," his voice breaks on the last sentence.

Blaine listens to Kurt, reaching over to rub his leg gently in sympathy. "Aw, baby. I know… I know. But it's better now. I am here, and you never have to worry about that again. Things are better for you now, right? I mean, besides the fact that we're together again. You get along with mostly everyone, I'm guessing."

Kurt nods with a blank expression. "Yes. Mostly everyone."

Blaine is silent for a moment. He wonders whether it would be wise to ask Kurt regarding his small feud with Finn. He really did want to know what was wrong. Kurt was acting strange, and Blaine needed to know whether or not this was because of Finn. He finally decides that he needs to ask now. No other time would be better; they were completely alone.

"What's going on with you and Finn?"

Kurt noticeably flinches at the question, his head whipping around to face Blaine. "W-what?"

His nervous tone and his surprised expression was enough for Blaine. "I know you and Finn are in a fight. Rachel told me. What she also told me was that you two were pretty great friends up until a couple of weeks ago. She said you won't talk to her about it, and you haven't even mentioned anything to me about it. I'm guessing by that fact, that what's going on is really bothering you."

Kurt watches Blaine with wide eyes, obviously surprised that he's picked up on so much. He had even been talking to Rachel about him. When had that even happened? "Well, uh. We were friends a while ago. Now we're not. I'm obviously a little upset that we're not friends anymore, I guess I'm just overreacting a bit. It's nothing to worry about." Kurt absolutely hates lying to Blaine, but he can't bring himself to tell him exactly what's going on.

"Kurt…" Blaine practically whines. He knows that he's leaving the whole story out for a reason. He just needs to find out what that reason is. "Please tell me what happened. It's unfair to me that you're keeping it to yourself. Please, Kurt."

Kurt sighs, deciding to tell Blaine a small portion of the full story. "Alright…" he hesitates for a moment, choosing his wording. "A couple weeks ago, like we've established, Finn and I were good friends. It all halted when, uh… When Finn admitted that he had feelings for me." Kurt stops, looking at Blaine's face and trying to pinpoint his emotion. He looked surprised, and a little confused. Deciding that it would be best to continue, Kurt does just that.

"I told him that I didn't feel the same way… That, even though I never might see my husband again, I wasn't ready for another relationship this quickly. He didn't react well. He was very hurt. Voices were raised and feelings were hurt, and we've never been the same around each other since."

Blaine nods his head, his hand still rubbing Kurt's thigh comfortingly. "I'm sorry," he says, "I know you must feel awful about it. I'm sure he'll lighten up soon. His feelings for you can't last forever, you know." Blaine thinks for a moment. "That definitely explains why he doesn't like me. He's been giving me these glares ever since I showed up."

Kurt narrows his eyes at this, visibly upset. "I can't believe him. That's not… It's not fair. What he's doing. It's not fair at all." His eyes begin to water as he can't help but go over the most recent incident in his mind. The feeling of Finn's mouth on his own, the feel of his grubby hand on his cock, a member of his body only meant to be touched by his husband and himself. He remembers the strong feeling of guilt washing over him right as it happened. He remembers how disgusted he felt at himself and Finn. He remembers how violated he was.

"Kurt… Kurt, there's something else, isn't there?" Blaine asks, feeling worried and confused. Kurt was crying, that couldn't have been caused by a simple confession of feelings by Finn.

Kurt quickly shakes his head, his thoughts overwhelming his feelings. Blaine frowns at this as he reaches out, softly cupping his cheeks in his hands and turning his head up so their eyes were staring right at each other.

"Please, Kurt," Blaine pleads softly, not breaking their eye contact. "You can tell me. I want to know what's wrong."

Knowing that he can't lie to his husband any longer, Kurt finally breaks down, giving in to what Blaine asked of him.

"W-when Finn and I were going down to get water for the camp… Before he came back to the campfire with the red cuts on his cheek." Kurt swallows nervously before continuing. "I did that."

Blaine certainly wasn't expecting that confession. Carefully, he asks, "Why…?"

"Because he was trying to rape me," Kurt chokes out.

Blaine jolts into a straighter position, his eyes staring at Kurt in shock. "He… He what?"

Tears pour down Kurt's face as he finally breaks down, letting the confession flow out of him. "H-he was kissing me and t-touching me and he wouldn't stop. I tried to scream but he wouldn't lis—"

Without giving Kurt the opportunity to speak another word, Blaine stands up from his spot on the rock. He stomps towards the direction of the camp, as if he was on autopilot. He walks quickly, his face red with anger. His fists are clenched so tightly that they've turned white. His head was completely blanked out, with one target set in his mind. Finn.

~*~xo~*~

Review, lovelies! :)