DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee, nor am I associated with it or RIB. I also am not affiliated with Buckcherry or any of their songs (though I am in love with their lead singer's voice.)

Break Me

By: xSlythStratasfaction

Warning: Season 2 spoilers! This fic is AU with canon tendencies (does that make any sense? Haha!) Characters may seem OOC, but that's essential to the plot, I promise. VERY ANGSTY. Also, some foul language.

"Oh, hey dude. Long time no see."

Kurt ignored his stepbrother's comment and slid past Finn's lanky form as he grabbed a glass out of the cupboard and poured himself a bit of milk. He pressed the glass to his lips and chugged it down, immediately refilling the cup as Finn stared on in awe in the background.

"I don't think I've ever seen you drink milk that fast."

"I was thirsty," Kurt said quietly, grabbing a paper towel off of the rack to wipe his mouth with. He took his full glass of milk over to the dining room and took a seat at the table, watching as his stepbrother followed him. "...can I help you?"

"Look, I know we're not talking right now after what happened with Rachel and her party and stuff, but I miss you, dude. I hardly ever see you anymore now that you're at Dalton and it's like we're strangers more than we are brothers, you know?"

Kurt sipped his milk, carefully side eyeing Finn as the taller boy stretched his arms out over the tabletop. "After the way you acted these last few weeks, you should be glad I even acknowledge you."

"I know, man, and I'm sorry-"

"God, if I only had a dollar for how many times I've heard how sorry everyone is."

"What do you mean?"

Kurt brushed off the comment and sat back in his chair. He toyed around with his cell phone, occasionally swiping his finger over the delete button as he erased every single one of Blaine's attempted apology texts. As he amused himself with his phone, Finn leaned over and watched him.

"This has to do with Blaine, doesn't it?"

"Damnit Finn," Kurt cursed, hiding his phone away in his pants pocket. He downed the rest of his milk and made to stand and leave, but was tugged back down into his chair by his brother's strong grasp.

"Sit."

"I'm not a dog. You do not control me with commands. Now let me go."

Finn rolled his eyes, "I know this goes against every show choir rule about fraterniting-"

"Fraternizing-"

"-whatever with the enemy, but I think you and I are due for a talk."

"I'd rather not."

"What'd he do to you? I know Blaine was being a complete dick at Rachel's party and I know you're pissed at him and Rach for all that, but he had to have done something else to make you so angry. Otherwise you wouldn't be snapping at everybody."

Kurt scowled, "Perhaps everyone else should mind their own business. How I conduct my life is my business and no one else should care whether or not I'm mad at Blaine or Rachel or whoever."

"I just want to know what's going on. You're so freaking moody all the time and you never want to talk and the only time I can get a word out of you is when you're yelling at me and I hate it. You're at Dalton now; you're supposed to be happier, not so angry all the time."

"Oh, really? So tell me, Finn? How is it that I'm supposed to be so happy at a school more than an hour away, at a school where none of my friends are at, at a place where I'm stuck wearing some god awful blazer all day; where I can't even dress how I want to dress or act how I want to act because there's a stupid code for everything! Do tell me why it is that - even though I'm so protected there - I'm miserable? Why is that, Finn?"

Finn paled as he settled both palms on the table. He stared down at the dark wood and frowned, "I don't know."

"The Warblers barely acknowledge me. Blaine's their star, not me. They talk to me, yeah sure okay, but they aren't Mercedes or Tina or even Brittany. They aren't any of you guys and they definitely sure aren't New Directions. I miss McKinley every single day and I'm angry that some homophobic neanderthal was able to run me out of school without penalty. I'm angry that our parents had to use their honeymoon money to send me to a school that I can barely stand… and most of all, I'm angry that nobody ever seems to notice how upset I am."

"Kurt, dude, I didn't-"

"No, Finn, you're right. You've never noticed. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go find something to bury Pavarotti in."

"Your bird died?"

He didn't get an answer; Kurt had left the room.

Ever since his blow-up at Finn that afternoon, Kurt felt exposed, like he had let out some huge secret.

It wasn't that well known that Kurt disliked Dalton, but never had he really voiced it aloud to anyone. But now Finn knew and knowing Finn, everyone else in their inner circle knew and sooner or later, someone was bound to confront him about it and he really wasn't looking forward to the confrontation.

So for the next few days, whenever he was around Finn, he dodged questions about Dalton and the Warblers; he ignored comments about Blaine and he especially didn't look in his father's direction when Finn continuously mentioned how miserable Kurt was.

Pavarotti's funeral was sad… lonely.

The Warblers all came by and paid their respects – even Blaine, who looked a little bit worse for wear based on the second glance that Kurt had shot at him during the mini service. The choir did an encore of Blackbird with Kurt on lead and then they each tossed a tiny handful of dirt onto the little bedazzled coffin that Kurt decorated. When all was said and done, Kurt laid a single rose on the grave and walked away, the Warblers trailing behind him lost in their own conversations.

If he would've turned around, he would've noticed the lone figure of one Blaine Anderson standing over the grave, one hand swiping over his eyes.

After Pav's burial, things in the Warblers went full speed ahead.

Practice was held the next day and the council finally came to the conclusion that Misery, Raise Your Glass, and Animal were going to be the songs to be performed at Regionals. Blaine had the lead on all the songs and Kurt was offered the chance for his part in Animal, but he politely declined, insisting that someone else take the honor of singing with the Warblers' 'brightest' star.

In the end, Animal got cut. Mostly because Blaine didn't feel right singing with anyone else.

They lost at Regionals.

It was to be expected. Kurt knew they were going to lose. He had heard Finn singing in the shower a few mornings ago and heard what sounded like a few original songs being belted out; he knew that if New Directions was going with their own penned numbers, they were going to mop the floor with the Warblers. Not even Blaine's smooth tenor voice and powerhouse showmanship could have saved that sailing ship when Rachel came out singing about wanting to get it right and the perks of being a loser.

So when the judges announced the winner and New Directions roared in happiness, a little piece of Kurt died inside. His friends were going to New York without him. The group he helped put together, the one thing he loved the most about McKinley and yet lost thanks to Karofsky, was going to Nationals without him. Those thoughts plagued his mind and as his friends celebrated and the Warblers gave their congratulations to the other choirs – Kurt realized he had to get away.

It was all too much.

He waited until the groups merged together in celebratory (and sympathetic) hugs before he slunk offstage and went to hide in a deserted backstage green room. He stepped inside the dark room and rid himself of the awful stuffy blazer, carelessly tossing it onto the floor as he collapsed on a couch. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes; large ones produced from the anger he felt because he was once again getting the shaft in life. He leaned forward and pressed his head into his hands, cursing himself for getting so emotional after he so deliberately promised himself not to cry anymore… but he couldn't help it. It just wasn't fair.

It wasn't fair that all this shit was happening to him.

It wasn't fair that he wasn't going to get a happy ending like everyone else did.

It wasn't fair that for the millionth time in his life, he just wasn't good enough to succeed, to be wanted, to be a winner.

You wanna be a loser like me, the winning lyrics of New Directions' song taunted him. It was like a nightmare he couldn't escape. He would always be a loser. He'd always be that token gay kid with the too high voice, the pixie-esque face, and the unusual fashion sense. He'd always be the guy who came in second, never first; the one who never ever won no matter how hard he tried. He'd always be a loser.

A Lima loser. Just the thought made him sick.

He roughly wiped at his eyes, standing up and heading into the bathroom before someone caught him trembling in the back room. He stood over the sink, taking in his puffy red eyes and blotchy face. He looked a mess and he knew it – he also felt like a mess, so it was fitting, really. Carefully, he wiped at his face, then splashed a bit of cold water on his eyes and cheeks before he took a few deep breaths to calm himself. Look at you. You're pathetic. Can't even win a simple choir competition. Loser!

"Shut up," he hissed, running his wet fingers through his hair. "Leave me alone."

"Kurt?"

He jumped away from the sink, eyes shooting towards the doorway. He didn't hear the knock, nor did he notice the door open, but he did see the boy standing in the doorway looking very confused.

"Blaine… just go away."

"Your friends are looking for you. They wanted to know if you wanted to come to dinner with them and-"

"Tell them I'll see them later."

"But they're right outside... if-"

"Just go, Blaine! Leave!" He stared down at the sink, lips pursed as he heard Blaine say something else about meeting with his friends. Anger flared through him and he grabbed up the soap dispenser without a single thought, lobbing it at Blaine's head. He cringed when it crashed into the wall next to his ex-friend's face and broke, spilling liquid soap onto the tiled floor.

"Kurt, what-"

"GO!"

Blaine frowned, but closed the door anyway, leaving Kurt to his own devices as he stepped out of the green room and into the hall where a few members of New Directions stood. Mercedes was eyeing him wearily, "Is he coming?"

"He said he'd meet you guys later. He's not feeling too well."

"What'd you do?"

"I didn't do anything… he- I think he's- he's a little upset that we lost, I think."

Mercedes frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Well, you guys are his old glee club and you guys just won a trip to New York. You can sort it out from there," Blaine muttered, not knowing where his attitude was coming from, but not caring nonetheless. He watched as Mercedes' face softened as she turned towards the Asian girl next to her.

"I didn't even think of that."

"Oh my God, poor Kurt," Tina whispered. Both girls turned back towards the green room and stared at Blaine, "Can we go in and talk to him?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Blaine said quietly, crossing his arms over his chest. "He tried to knock my head off with a soap dispenser."

"That's probably because you're an idiot and he's sick and tired of dealing with you," Mercedes huffed, wrapping an arm around Blaine's bicep as she tugged him away from the entrance. She pushed him to the side, opening the green room door and waltzing in with Tina close on her tail. "Kurt! Kurt, where are you?"

The door to the bathroom opened and Kurt stepped out, eyes and face stony like he hadn't freaked out a bit since he found out the Warblers had lost. He walked over to where his discarded blazer lay and picked it up, tugging it on without incident as he walked past his friends.

"Kurt?" Tina questioned, her voice in a low whisper. She watched as her friend stepped out of the room and walked straight past Blaine without a second glance at the other boy. Kurt just went on his way down the hall and out of the building with the girls (and Blaine) on his tail. "Kurt, wait! Can we talk please?"

"Kurt, stop!" Mercedes.

"Hey, Kurt, come on!" Blaine.

He never stopped; instead, he speed walked his way to where the Warblers bus was and climbed on, making his way to the back. Blaine rushed on behind him, shooting an apologetic look at Tina and Mercedes before he climbed into the vehicle and began looking for Kurt. He frowned when he caught the emotional boy curling up in a seat near the rear. Weaving his way through the crowd of Warblers, Blaine paused in front of Kurt's seat and stared down at his silent friend, taking in the watery eyes and the trembling lower lip caught in between his teeth.

"Kurt?"

"Can you just leave me alone, please?" The boy whimpered, wrapping his arms around himself as he curled up near the window. Blaine's heart dropped at his friend's expression, so full of hurt and disappointment. Immediately he knew that this wasn't just about losing Regionals, there was so much more hidden in there and for the millionth time that month alone, Blaine felt absolutely wretched.

He had a hand in this. He was a part of the things that caused Kurt pain and it truly made his heart ache to know that. Worrying his lower lip, he ignored Kurt's request to be alone and slid his way into the seat, carefully pulling his crying friend into his arms. Kurt's body was tense in his embrace, back ramrod straight as he struggled to not cry or fight Blaine's grip off of his arms. However, Blaine knew he was struggling. Kurt's body trembled as he fought not to break down and as calmly as he could, Blaine leaned close and completely enveloped his friend in his arms, pressing his lips against the damp, sweet smelling hair on top of Kurt's head.

"I'm so sorry. I'm such an idiot."

Kurt sobbed quietly, dam finally breaking as his fingers squeezed Blaine's blazer lapels. He cried over everything that had been bothering him these last few months and Blaine stroked his back and hummed quietly, his voice wavering as he himself struggled not to break down in his own fit of tears. The other Warblers around them allowed the boys to have their moment, each of them turning away when they heard Kurt's quiet sniffles and Blaine's soothing voice travel over their own discussions.

Soon after Kurt started crying, Blaine turned his humming into singing; his voice softly crooning the words of a song Kurt had heard before but didn't know very well.

Cause everything inside,
It never comes out right
And when I see you cry,
It makes me want to die

Blaine curled tighter around his friend, arms wrapped around Kurt's chest as he held the boy close. It was the closest the two of them had been in weeks and even though his heart was soaring, Blaine knew he had to be incredibly careful with the fragile person before him. Taking in a deep breath, he continued his song, his hands rubbing Kurt's arms soothingly as he sang.

I'm sorry I'm bad, I'm sorry you're blue, I'm sorry about all things I said to you
And I know I can't take it back
I love how you sing, I love all your sounds, and baby the way you make my world go round
And I just wanted to say I'm sorry

Kurt stared up at him as the song ended and Blaine's voice trailed off. The watery oceanic eyes looked more beautiful than ever in the passing street lights as the bus rode on back to Dalton and Blaine swallowed heavily, his own eyes widening as he looked down at the boy in his arms.

"Blaine-"

Kurt never finished his sentence; instead Blaine pressed his lips gently against his own.

A/N: Readers of my other fic Not Like This will recognize this author's note.

OH MY GOD, IT'S AN UPDATE! AHHHHHH!

No really. Sorry about the lack of updates recently. If any of you have been on my Tumblr (neverluckylindy is my name on there), you've probably seen the updates about my computer and word processor, but for those of you who don't have Tumblr or haven't been on there, here's the gist of what's happened these last few weeks: fanfiction (aka this site) started taking stories down so I went to back mine up just in case, THEN my laptop decided to turn against me, killed its inner fan and then wiped out my word processor by DELETING ITS STUPID VERIFICATION CODE THING. So then I lost my files and had to go back and figure out what the hell happened. I ended up downloading a free word processor (that OpenOffice thing) and I got my stuff back, but I had to rewrite some stuff because a few save files didn't transfer over (how that happened, I will never know) and now I'm updating this for you from a hotel room with shotty wifi that I'm using from hotel next door because our hotel's wifi won't work on my computer and ASLKJDSDKLFJHKRJL ARGH.

So there you go. Issues all around.

Lemme know what you thought of the chapter and what happened at the end. Also, what do you think will happen now? Also, the song used in this chapter was Sorry by Buckcherry. Check them out! Thanks! :)