The rest of the car drive continued in silence. As Blaine drove past the whirling lights the tension between them was thick and electric. Kurt couldn't even bring himself to look at Blaine without an involuntary shudder running through him.

When they finally arrived back at Dalton, Blaine was walking Kurt back to his dorm when he finally broke the silence.

"You know we still haven't finished the game," he pointed out as they reached Kurt's floor.

"Oh, right," Kurt said, his face blank as he pulled out a generic question from his mind. "Uh… do you have any pets?"

Blaine let out a grunt as they reached Kurt's door and he turned towards him with narrowed eyes.

"What?" Kurt asked defensively. He knew it was a lame question but it was better than any of the others circulating his mind…

"I can tell you've been holding back, Kurt," Blaine said darkly.

Kurt glanced away. Shit…

"Come on," Blaine urged. "Ask me what you've wanted to ask this whole evening…"

Kurt bit his lip, cursing himself for being such a damn open book. He feared what Blaine's reaction would be to his question. They had come so far this evening… he didn't want to ruin it all because of his stupid curiosity. But Blaine's stare was insistent so he blurted out,

"Who hurt you?"

Blaine's expression was stunned. This clearly this wasn't the question he had expected.

"Last Friday night," Kurt clarified.

"Karofsky," Blaine answered slowly, after he had finally regained himself. "David Karofsky."

Kurt felt his chest seize up. His mouth positively ached to ask more; why Karofsky? Who started it? What had happened?

But his questions were up. So he resisted.

"Your turn," Kurt prompted, his voice a little shaky. Blaine nodded, his expression unreadable as he asked,

"Why didn't you ask me about why I was at Dalton?"

Kurt mulled his question over for a moment, struggling to find an appropriate answer, one that wouldn't scare Blaine away, wouldn't make him regret this whole thing…

Deciding that no such answer existed, he decided to go with the truth.

"Because whatever you did," he ventured carefully, finding it hard to look into Blaine's eyes, luminous, even in the dark hallway, "it doesn't affect the way I feel… about you."

Blaine shook his head vehemently, running a shaking hand through his hair.

"You don't understand, Kurt," he said, his tone harsh and almost angry. "I'm not a good guy."

"Blaine," Kurt said firmly, all hesitance gone. He needed Blaine to understand what he said, he needed him to listen. It was more important than any of his stupid pride or fear of rejections. Blaine was worth more than that. "You need to stop this."

Blaine looked up, surprise flickering in his gold eyes at the urgency of Kurt's tone.

"You can deny it all you want, Blaine Anderson," Kurt continued seriously, "but deep inside of you there is a boy, a boy who has been hurt and no matter how much you try to supress him with fighting and cigarettes and alcohol," Blaine's eyes shifted uncomfortably but Kurt reached for his hand, turning his gaze back on him, "he is going to keep hurting until you try and help him." He took a deep breath, giving Blaine a moment to digest this before continuing in a softer voice. "You can do better than this, Blaine… it's not too late."

Blaine's eyes, greener than Kurt had ever seen them, met his, a challenge sparkling within.

"Then give me someone to do better for."

Kurt was stunned speechless. Blaine had said it so surely and unwaveringly that Kurt couldn't help but wonder how long he had wanted to say this. Kurt's heart broke at the earnestly in Blaine's words. He wondered how long it had been since Blaine had had to rely on other people; his mom, his sister, the staff at Dalton, the Warblers…

Maybe what Blaine needed was someone to rely on him for a change. Someone to put their trust in him.

Kurt wanted to have the right words for Blaine. He wanted to tell him everything he needed to hear…

But he just didn't know how.

His mind was still whirling when the door behind them sprung open, making them both jolt back in shock. Tim stood before them, looking apologetic as he held out the cordless phone, connected to the school's office system, one of the few possessions the dorm provided them with.

"It's the Dean," Tim explained grimly, wincing under Blaine's angry glare. "She said it was urgent."

Kurt nodded and took the phone from him. As he entered their dorm, he reached for Blaine's hand, pulling him in with him. To his surprise, Blaine held on tightly, realisation evident on his face as he watched Kurt speak, surprise, then shock, then excitement, then sadness, rapidly taking over Kurt's expression throughout the conversation.

Blaine already knew what this was about.

When Kurt hung up the phone at last, he turned to Blaine with an expression of disbelief.

"Karofsky came clean," he managed, his voice a little breathless. "He's been expelled and…" Kurt took a deep, shuddering breath.

"I'm going back to McKinley."