When they got back from the police station, Sebastian took himself off for a shower and then set up root in his usual place on the terrace. Watching the city rush passed below him without having to be a part of it soothed him somehow.

This time, he knew it was him who was actively seeking space, but after everything that had happened at the station that morning, Sebastian felt even more contaminated than ever.

All the other inhabitants of the apartment could do was look on sadly. Nothing they said or did could make Sebastian feel better.

Marc and Kurt told Paul what had happened the minute they got home and Paul was still reeling. It was ridiculous that even after all these years and with all the advancements made in equality, they still lived in a world where victims of sexual assault were seen as the ones at fault.

"There must be something we can do?" Marc asked softly, walking up to stand next to Paul. They looked out at Sebastian together.

Paul shook his head and took Marc's hand. "I don't think there is," Paul said helplessly. "The only thing that will make any of this right is those guys being found, and time."

"Maybe he should talk to someone?" Marc suggested.

"Therapy?" Kurt asked, walking over to join them.

"It might help," Paul agreed. "If he's willing to try. It isn't effective if he's not open to it."

Kurt nodded in agreement. His phone chiming in his back pocket caught his attention and he slid it out, expecting to see Isabelle's name flash up.

"Alice," he said, a little relieved. He felt bad for not being able to help Isabelle out. He knew the office had to be chaos right now, and he caught himself thinking about all the things he had left undone when he suddenly did not return after that Friday. "They want to know if they can come round today."

Paul looked back out at Sebastian. "I think Sebastian could use the distraction."

The terrace door slid open behind Sebastian and he closed his eyes. A light breeze swept over the terrace, carrying the scent of mint and ginger, telling him it was Kurt approaching.

"Hey," Kurt said softly. "I just had a text from Alice - she asked how you are and wants to know if you feel up for visitors. She tried to call you but-"

"I turned my phone off," Sebastian cut in.

"Oh. Shall I... tell her to try again in a few days? Paul thought that maybe you could use some company..." Kurt looked at Sebastian, feeling helpless.

Sebastian thought about it. He really wasn't in the mood for visitors - but if he kept pushing Alice away she'd eventually turn up anyway, demanding to know what was going on.

"They can come over...but I don't want them to know." It'll just make them look at me differently, like you, he added in his head.

Kurt swallowed. "They are your friends, Bas," he said gently. "Please don't shut them out. They're worried about you." He couldn't help but include himself in thought.

"I'm not shutting them out!" Sebastian said shortly. "I just don't know what to tell them."

"Tell them you're not ready to share this with them, and just have them over as a distraction," Paul suggested, walking out to them with Marc.

"I could ask Alex to bring some films?" Kurt added. It was strange how 'hanging out' suddenly seemed like an event that needed planning.

"Okay," Sebastian finally said.

"If it gets to be too much," Marc said quietly, "we can always ask them to leave."

"Yeah, we'll stay in the apartment, and you can send me a text if you want me to bail you out with some medical excuse," Paul offered.

"Or I'll say it's your turn to take the dogs out," Marc added. "I'm sure your friends remember what it's like living at home." He winked.

Sebastian nodded. Kurt bent and kissed the top of Sebastian's head, stroking his hand through Sebastian's hair before retreating back inside to call Alice. Sebastian closed his eyes, chasing the touch with his own fingers long after they had gone inside, and wished Kurt would still touch him when no one was around.

Alice was delighted for the invitation of a movie day and, an hour later she, Steph, Alex and Brody turned up laden with movies and snacks.

The doorbell buzzed, and Marc went to show them in. Kurt took a deep breath and offered Sebastian what he hoped was an encouraging smile.

Despite knowing Sebastian had rested, Kurt was still a little nervous. He tried hard not to let it show. These were his friends; he should not be nervous to see them. He just hoped Sebastian would manage to keep it together - and so would he. The last thing he wanted was to blurt out their troubles in a moment of weakness.

Their friends bounded into the living room full of energy, but fell short upon the sight that met their eyes.

Sebastian sat curled up on the large armchair, Poppy draped over his lap. Kurt was hovering by the entrance to the kitchen, Lola keeping guard by his legs. They looked anxious and tired, and not at all their usual self. They looked somehow...out of touch.

"Um, hi guys!" Alex said, trying to recover from his shock. "We didn't know what you'd be in the mood for, so I bought a few." He held up the bag which was bulging with thin, flat boxes.

"And we bought popcorn and candy," Alice said.

"Yeah, we thought if we're gonna do this we should do it properly," Brody said.

"That's great!" Kurt said walking towards them. Lola followed closely behind. "I'm sure we'll find something." He could tell from the way they looked at him and how hard Steph hugged him that his façade was only partially successful. "Marc and Paul have a kick-ass surround sound system too," he added, hopeful that Alex might pick up the slack.

"Aw yeah!" Alex let out on cue. He stepped further into the living room and approached his best friend. "Hey man," he offered, a little subdued. "How's the hand?"

Sebastian looked up at his friends and offered them a smile. "Hey," he said softly. "Better thanks, the infection has almost gone."

"That's good," Alice asked, walking towards him too. "How are you feeling? Kurt said you haven't been sleeping…"

Sebastian tensed slightly as they approached but forced down the urge to flinch. "I'm okay," he said quietly. "I've managed to sleep through the last couple of nights…"

"That's great," Alice said. She moved to sit on the arm of his chair, but Poppy growled at her. She froze, and sat down on the couch instead.

"Poppy ," Paul said sternly, looking in from the hallway. "Seb, do you want me to take them?"

Sebastian scratched her ear and she settled down. "No, it's okay."

He looked at Alice. "Sorry," he said softly.

"It's ok. I guess they notice I'm not a dog person," Alice said.

"Wait, what?" Brody said, raising his eyebrows. "You have, like, five stuffed dogs on your bed!"

Alex snorted. "She's a furry!"

"I am not!" Alice protested. "My mom gave me those, ok? They're keepsakes."

"I kicked them off once when we were getting down to it, and boy was I in trouble! They have names and everything," Brody mumbled to Alex from the corner of his mouth.

Alice gave him an indignant look.

Kurt smiled, a little of the tension inside of him easing. It was good having them here. "I'll get us a round of drinks," he offered.

"I'll take one of those fancy cappuccinos!" Steph said happily. Marc and Paul had an excellent coffee maker.

"Ditto," Alex said.

"Bas?" Kurt asked, looking at him.

Sebastian smiled at him. Maybe having his friends over was a good idea. "Hot chocolate please," he said, feeling himself relax.

"Ooooh!" Alice said, jumping a little. "Me too, please!"

Kurt nodded and walked to the kitchen.

"If everyone is having chocolate can I change mine too, Kurt?" Alex called after him. He turned to Brody. "I didn't know we are allowed, with all the candy we brought. Lately Steph's been..." He made a head-slicing hand movement.

Brody just grinned.

"Hey, I'm just watching my weight, okay?" Steph protested. "And it doesn't help if you're sitting next to me drinking slurpies." She turned to Sebastian. "Today's fine, though. And you can have as much popcorn and cocoa as you want, of course. That's part of the healing process."

Chocolate won't fix this, Sebastian thought, but he smiled at them both. "So, what's new?" he asked, hoping to steer the conversation well away from himself.

"Well, my boss is still a dickhead," Alex said conversationally, "so there's that…"

Steph sighed. "Alex, it's only been three weeks…"

"Yeah! Ex-act-ly!" Alex said indignantly. "It's been three weeks and I have yet to see anyone famous, even though all the VIPs supposedly a-dore Sprinkles, and the worst of it is, I can't even try the merchandise."

"You're the delivery guy! You can't go around eating other people's orders!" Alice let out.

"I know, but...listen-" He turned to face Sebastian with a very serious look. "You can't even eat them if you drop them. If they're like, unsellable. I tried." He shrugged and shook his head, as if the concept was just too abstract for him to understand.

In the kitchen, Marc gave Kurt a hand with the machine. "Everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, sure," Kurt replied. "We're just talking for a bit now, and we've got the movies as back-up. We'll be fine."

"Alright," Marc said, clapping Kurt on the shoulder. "Have a good time, then. And help yourself to anything, okay?"

Sebastian laughed a little at the look on Alex's face. "Maybe once you've settled in a bit?"

"I doubt it," Alex said looking crestfallen.

"Don't worry honey," Steph said. "We can make our own cupcakes, it's not that hard..."

"Not the same," Alex muttered grumpily. "I just thought I was gonna meet Oprah."

"Maybe Kurt can get you her autograph when he's on her show to promote his work," Brody said, winking at Sebastian. "Because we all know he's the most likely to ever meet her."

Alex sighed heavily. "You're crushing my dreams, man."

Brody shrugged. "Just keeping it real. NYADA starts again soon, right? Is it next week, or the week after?"

Alice took out her phone. "Probably around the same time NYU does?" she mused. Then she looked up at Sebastian, suddenly realising something. "Do you...I mean, can you-" She trailed off. "Have you decided what to do yet?" she finally asked quietly.

Sebastian bit his lip and shook his head. "No," he said quietly. "We haven't talked about it...obviously I need to come back, but..." he trailed off as the thought of going back to school and being surrounded by people flooded his mind. He felt his pulse start to race and something caught in his throat.

Poppy whined and raised her head to lick his chin.

If people had been able to grab him so easily at Satire, who was to say they wouldn't be able to do it again? He closed his eyes and sunk back into the chair, his fingers curling into Poppy's fur.

"You could defer for a semester, maybe," Brody suggested.

"Yeah, Paul would probably be able to sign off on it?" Steph added gently. "I mean, if you're not all healed…"

Sebastian shook his head, keeping his eyes closed. Walking around the park with Paul and the dogs had been okay. And he'd had Marc and Kurt with him at the police station earlier that morning. But they couldn't go to school with him.

"Or maybe we could act as your human shields?" Alex said. "Cover you from all sides?"

"That's a good idea."

Sebastian shook his head again. "No!" The thought of being caged in, even by his friends, was terrifying.

"What about-"

"Shut up!" Sebastian said a little desperately. "I know you're trying to help, but please just shut up about it. I don't know what I am going to do. I haven't thought that far ahead and right now I don't want to. Please just shut up."

Kurt came back in just in time to hear Sebastian. He put the drinks for his friends down unceremoniously to hurry to him.

'What's going on? ' he asked sharply. 'What are they saying? ' He spoke French deliberately, not caring that their friends could not understand him. Right now, they were upsetting Sebastian, so they were the enemy.

He put Sebastian's drink down in front of him and offered him his hand. Kurt wished he could hug him, but Sebastian seemed to have purposefully chosen the only single seat in the room to keep everyone at a distance, including him.

Sebastian curled his hand round Kurt's and clutched it tight. He pressed his head back into the cushions and allowed his breathing to slow down.

"W-we were just asking him about school..." Alice said faintly. Her eyes were locked on her best friend and felt tears prickle in her eyes. He looked so broken. What the hell happened to him?

Kurt squeezed Sebastian's hand and then let go, resting it on his shoulder instead.

"We're still...looking at things on a day-to-day basis," he explained. He saw the looks on their faces and knew it wasn't enough. "Right now, that's all I can tell you," he added, hoping they'd not voice the questions he could read on their faces.

Alex nodded thoughtfully. "You know, it's ok to tell us to shut up if we hit the wrong topic," he offered. "We don't mind, right? It's cool. But you can talk to us if you want to, you know that, right?"

Steph nodded.

Sebastian bit his lip, and shook his head before whispering, "I can't tell you this."

He looked away from them and pulled away from Kurt's touch, curling in on himself.

Alice looked between the two of them, a sense of dread settling in her. The way Sebastian pulled away from Kurt made her wonder. Had Kurt done something? She opened her mouth to speak, but Brody, guessing what was on her mind, shook his head.

"Sebastian," he said softly. "You can tell us anything."

"I can't ...I'm not ready. It'll change everything."

"It won't!" Alice argued. She knew Brody was trying to stop her, but this was Sebastian, and he had been her friend first, before all of them. Even before Kurt.

"Kurt wouldn't tell us anything the other day, now you won't! Just...stop trying to protect us from whatever it is." She looked at Kurt before turning back to Sebastian. "Or are you just protecting him? "

Sebastian glared at her and both dogs started to growl quietly. "None of this is Kurt's fault, Alice. And I'm getting sick of you jumping down his throat or assuming it's him whenever I'm upset or hurt. He didn't say anything the other day because I asked him not to."

"That's fair enough," Brody said. He could see how tense Sebastian was getting and hoped that Alice could see it too. He had seen that look in someone's eyes before, when a former colleague had shared the details of an experience with one of her clients. Suddenly, he had an inkling of what had happened. He prayed that Alice would let it go.

"No, it's not!" Alice said loudly, standing up. She didn't notice Sebastian flinch. "What is it? What could possibly be so awful that you can't tell us? We're your friends! We have a right to-"

"I was raped, okay?" Sebastian half-shouted. "When I was sixteen. I got myself a fake ID, I went to a gay bar, someone drugged my drink and I was gang-raped by a group of grown men."

His heart was racing and his hands were shaking. "I was so out of it that two whole days went missing from my memory, and I was living in blissful ignorance until last week, when another group of guys decided to pull me from the bar and try again, breaking my hand and nearly bashing my head in in the process. And that was when my brain said: 'HELLO SEBASTIAN GUESS WHAT? I HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOU!' and started filling me in on four years of repressed trauma. I now get to relive what happened, every. Single. Fucking. Time. I close my eyes."

Sebastian's breath caught in his throat and he looked away from them, already regretting his outburst. He didn't want to see how they would be looking at him now.

Kurt's expression hardened and he stepped in front of Sebastian, blocking him from view.

"I hope you're happy that you got to enforce your rights as a friend, Alice. Because as far as I'm concerned, it was the last time."

Alice stared at him with her mouth hanging open. Between Sebastian's ragged breaths and Kurt's stone-cold expression, she was lost for words.

"I..." she started, but Kurt turned away from her to kneel by Sebastian's side.

"I'm so sorry, Bas," he whispered.

Sebastian reached for his hand.

"Seb-" Alice started, tears welling in her eyes. "I'm sorry, I-god, I'm so sorry." She sat back down and leaned into Brody's side. He wrapped his arm around her but didn't look at her. She was his girlfriend and he loved her, but he was angry at her for ignoring all the signs and just pushing on. He hated that his suspicions had been confirmed.

Sebastian let out a shallow breath and looked at Kurt. The pain in his boyfriend's eyes reflected his own and he curled their fingers together.

"We can leave if you want," Steph said quietly.

Sebastian shook his head. The cat was out of the bag now. He might as well tell them the whole story. Slowly, with his eyes focused on Kurt, he began to talk.

Hearing it a second time, even in the abridged version, wasn't easier. If anything, Sebastian's honesty about his expectations of that night made what had really happened all the more heartbreaking.

Their friends listened quietly and in growing horror as the story unfolded. By the time Sebastian was telling them about the Warblers, Alice was crying into Brody's arms. He was looking pale and resigned. Kurt realised it might not be the first time Brody had heard a story like this.

For the others, it clearly was. Alex was looking away. Steph was holding his hand. Kurt was pretty sure Alex was crying, too.

"So...you didn't remember any of this until the attack at Satire?" Steph asked quietly.

Sebastian licked his lips and shook his head. "No...apparently it was a side effect of the drug and a coping mechanism in my brain. Paul explained the medical theory of it, but...it's like my brain put up a wall that blocked it all out...and then the attack knocked the wall down and brought everything back. It's why I've not slept all week...nightmares."

"The day you all came round and we sent you home was the morning after the first one," Kurt explained darkly.

Brody nodded. Sebastian focused on him. "I didn't want to tell you, because I don't want you to look at me differently. I'm still trying to process it myself, without trying to answer a million questions." He looked at Alice.

"I'm - I won't," Alice promised.

"No, you won't," Kurt said sternly. He looked ready to throw her out.

"Kurt..." Brody started, but Alice cut him off.

"Kurt is right. I shouldn't have pushed. He already told us to back off days ago and I didn't listen. I guess I overestimated myself, thinking that once we'd talk, everything would be okay."

"This is not a tv show, Alice," Kurt snapped. "Not everything can be solved in 45 minutes."

"Minus commercials," Alex mumbled, but it was clear his heart wasn't in it.

Alice nodded, stricken. "I know, I'm sorry. I really am. I just wanted to help."

"I know. But it would have been more helpful to trust that I have Sebastian's best interests at heart, Kurt said. "You're not the only one who cares about him."

"I know," Alice said to Kurt. "I'm sorry, I'm just not used to being shut out..."

Kurt crossed his arms over his chest. "Sebastian's well-being was more important to me than not hurting your feelings," he said bluntly.

Alice nodded. Suddenly, she understood that even her apologies were only helping her feel better, not Seb.

While Kurt talked, Alex had wiped the tears off his face and had gotten up from his seat to crouch by Sebastian's side. "You're my best man, Seb. Nothing's gonna change that, okay?" He said it quietly so that only Sebastian and Kurt would hear.

Sebastian looked at Alex and felt his lips curl into a small smile. "Try and stop me," he said quietly.

Alex grinned and nodded.

"Have you been to the police?" Steph asked hesitantly.

Sebastian looked at her, paused for a minute and then nodded. "We were there this morning."

"Can they do anything? About -"

"Not about Ohio. I don't know the identities of the guys who did it, and it's too late to find out. And besides, it's not in their jurisdiction and after the reception I got about Satire...I'm not sure I want to tell them."

"What-"

Sebastian quickly regaled the interrogation he'd received at the station that morning.

"That's outrageous!" Alice shouted indignantly.

Sebastian recoiled and shivered. "Please stop shouting."

Alice shook her head. "But how the hell is it your fault?"

Sebastian looked her in the eyes. "Because I'm gay."

Alice pressed her lips together and fell silent. The atmosphere in the room was so thick it could have been cut with a knife.

Sebastian reached up for Kurt's hand, relieved when Kurt took it willingly. It was good to know that despite the changes in their relationship, Kurt would accept his touch if he really needed it.

They sat for a moment in silence.

"Maybe we should put a movie on," Alex suggested.

Alice leant back against against Brody and nodded.

Sebastian used his grip on Kurt's hand and tugged him gently. "Sit with me?" he whispered and shuffled on the seat to make room for his boyfriend. He didn't want to push his luck but he needed to double the reassurance that Kurt was still there.

"Of course," Kurt said. As long as Sebastian was awake and initiating contact, Kurt figured he'd be okay.

Alex nodded and grabbed his bag, looking determined to offer the distraction everyone sorely needed.

"Sooo...We've got Pretty Woman - that was Steph's pick by the way, I had nothing to do with that - Transformers , which is awesome, Jurassic Parc because, hello! A classic! And then a bunch of art house films from Alice... snore ...so basically it comes down to Julia Roberts, dinosaurs or robots-in-disguise."

Brody put his hand up. "Dinosaurs!"

Alice gave him an indignant look. "I brought that film about Toulouse Lautrec, Seb said he'd been wanting to see it-"

"Di-no-saurs," Alex spelled out. "Help me out here, Seb."

Sebastian settled back against Kurt and rested his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. "Pretty Woman," he said quietly.

He avoided Alice's gaze. He knew she was trying to make things right, but that didn't change the fact that she'd forced him to tell everyone. Too many things had happened to him in his life that he had no control over, and she'd just taken one more thing away. It'd be a while before he could forgive her for that.

"Pretty woman it is!" Steph said triumphantly, standing up to put the dvd in.

'Thank you,' Sebastian said quietly to Kurt. 'For standing up for me.'

'You would have done the same for me, ' Kurt replied, kissing his temple.

In the kitchen, Marc and Paul embraced. They had heard Sebastian's outburst, and had been ready to go in and break it up - only to realise Kurt had it covered. So now his friends knew, for better or worse, and Sebastian had to deal with that.

"They'll make it," Marc mumbled. They have each other."

"They do," Paul agreed. "They don't seem like the kind of people to run, even if he pushes with all his strength."

"No, they're good kids." Marc paused. "He's gonna be okay, right?"

Paul sighed and kissed his husband's shoulder. "I hope so."

Sebastian closed the door behind their friends as they left a few hours later and took a moment against the door to process what had just happened.

Despite Alice's continued apologies, he was still mad at her. He guessed it was probably a good thing that they knew, but at that moment, he couldn't be anything but resentful.

Sighing, he turned and walked back into the living room. Marc and Paul had rejoined them and were talking quietly to Kurt.

"Seb," Paul said as he noticed him walking in. "How are you feeling?"

Sebastian shrugged. "I'm not sure, honestly."

Paul gave him a calculating look, giving him a physical once-over to assess if his medical expertise was needed. He decided that it wasn't.

"Alice pushed him too hard," Kurt said, mostly at Marc and Paul. "I know she meant well, but she went too far."

"We heard," Marc said, shooting Sebastian an apologetic look.

"She seems very young," Paul said. "I imagine she had a rather sheltered, privileged life." He didn't sound like he blamed her for it.

Sebastian bit his lip. Despite everything he felt guilty for divulging her story, but maybe it was time.

"In our freshman year, Alice was in a really bad relationship. He was older, much older. They'd known each other for a long time, he was like...a friend of the family or something, but he'd waited until she was legal before actually dating her. She insisted that she was in love with him, but…" Sebastian shook his head. "He was very restrictive and controlling." Sebastian looked at them sadly. "She wasn't allowed to be friends with us, he told her what she could and couldn't wear, how to do her make-up It got to the point when he'd even stop her coming to class."

"Oh god," Marc said quietly.

"It was awful and we begged her to leave him." Sebastian shook his head again as he thought back to that time. "It took her a while, but she finally did and was a million times better for it...but since then, she's very protective of everyone, me in particular, when it comes to relationships."

"Jeremy, huh?" Kurt mumbled, and Sebastian nodded. Kurt had only heard a few things here and there, and from the atmosphere in their group every time that name was mentioned he'd understood that it was a bad ex, but he hadn't known just how bad.

Kurt bit his lip. He was still angry with her too, but he couldn't help but think of Blaine, and the things he had done to him that Kurt still struggled with to the current day. He knew it was possible for relationships to be abusive even if everyone around them thought it was the most romantic, loving thing in the world. Alice had briefly suspected Kurt was to blame for Sebastian's condition, despite all of the evidence against that theory, and had been ready to do something about it. She had been willing to go against all of her friends to be the only one who believed Sebastian. He couldn't really blame her for that.

He let out a long breath. "Well. You cleared it up. Maybe that was for the best."

Sebastian bit his lip and nodded. "I guess...I just didn't want to ever have to tell them."

"I know," Kurt said softly. "There were a lot of things I never intended to tell my dad either...but after I did, it felt like a relief, I guess." He pulled up his shoulders. "They're probably a bit shocked now, but I don't think they'll treat you differently." He looked into Sebastian's eyes. "They have no reason to. You're still you."

Sebastian looked at him sadly. "I guess..." He felt so lost and alienated from everyone. Sitting with Kurt while watching the film had been nice, but all the way through he'd felt Kurt's hesitance. He noticed the way Kurt would step around him carefully, as if he was scared to touch him.

He wasn't going to break and the nightmares had stopped. But maybe Kurt was just too repulsed by him to touch him and he had just been putting on a show.

Sooner than Kurt would have wanted it, it was time to go to bed. He had been dreading it all day. He had no idea how to broach the subject with Sebastian without telling him about the nightmare. It would only just make him afraid to go to sleep again, and that was the last thing Kurt wanted. Maybe he should just stay awake until Sebastian fell asleep and then put a pillow between them again.

"Do you mind if I read a little?" he asked, putting up his pillow against the headrest so he could sit up in their shared bed.

Sebastian paused as he was folding back the covers to climb in and looked at Kurt. "O-of course not."

He settled himself against his pillows and steeled himself. He should ask. He should mention to Kurt that the pillow between them that morning had hurt, should ask him to not do it again. But he didn't want to force Kurt to do something he clearly didn't want to do. Sighing, he pulled the covers up over himself and looked owlishly at Kurt over the top of them. "Read to me?"

Kurt smiled softly. "Sure."

He settled back against the headrest, looked up his bookmark, and started to read out loud. After a while, he could see Sebastian start to relax. He paused for a moment to see if Sebastian was asleep. His boyfriend shifted a little, but didn't open his eyes. Kurt read to the end of the page for good measure. Then, he put the book away and reached for the extra pillow. He shifted away a little, trying not to disturb Sebastian, and placed the pillow between the two of them.

Sebastian felt the soft pillow rest next to him and felt his heart sink. The light switched off casting the room into darkness. He lay there for a minute before whispering quietly. "Kurt, can you not put the pillow there, please? Please hold me..."

Kurt started. He hadn't expected Sebastian to still be awake. "Oh! Of course," he said hurriedly, pulling the pillow to the side. "I just thought - I was just -" He sighed and broke off. He moved closer and reached out his arm, putting it around his boyfriend and pulling him a little closer until their chests touched. He could feel Sebastian's heart pound, and saw unshed tears glisten in his eyes.

"I'm here," he whispered. "It's going to be okay." He was just going to have to stay awake until Sebastian was really asleep - and think of gruesome things to be his own buzzkill until then.

Sebastian closed his eyes and buried his face into Kurt's chest, breathing deeply. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Just sleep, Bas," Kurt whispered back. He began carding his fingers through Sebastian's hair, and softly started humming Au Clair de la Lune.

He jolted awake as Sebastian's elbow lashed out and hit him hard in the ribs. Kurt gasped for breath. Blinking against the darkness, he tried to make out what had happened. He saw Sebastian writhe in his sheets and cursed his own stupidity. Kurt had fallen asleep, and just as the night before, Sebastian was having a violent nightmare, triggered by the body cradling his. Kurt's body - which had responded to the warmth and feel of his lover the way it had been conditioned to over the past months...with ardent desire.

Kurt moved away as far as he could, wincing as the cold spot of the mattress touched his bare legs, and he shushed Sebastian softly, fervently hoping he'd manage to let go of his nightmare without waking up so he wouldn't remember in the morning.

Someone was holding him down. His arms were pinned to his side and he couldn't move.

He tried yelling for help but no sound came out.

All of a sudden the restrictions were gone and he was alone. He could move and breathe again. He stayed frozen for a moment, sure his attacker would be back. When no one did, he relaxed and everything went dark again.

Kurt watched Sebastian calm down as soon as he had let him go. Resolve settled inside of him. He got up and tucked Sebastian back in, untangling his boyfriend's legs from the sheets. The splint on his hand had caught on his pillow. Kurt carefully put his arm down. He leaned down for a kiss. Then, he walked over to the window and curled up on the armchair, hoping Sebastian would sleep peacefully now that he was out of his bed. He spent the time until he fell back asleep making plans for the next morning.