Summary: Karofsky's pled guilty but the fallout of his conviction sends tidal waves through McKinley High. It's hard enough to deal with the fallout, but it's even harder when no one knows just how far Karofsky's friends will go for revenge. Sequel to Invisible.

Warning: Mentions of non-con. There may also be a bit of swearing.

A/N: Okay so I guess I'm not postponing posting this chapter. We'll see how it goes for the next one though. I really did a bad thing by procrastinating on my essays by writing this, but I feel like this chapter had to be written. That and I kind of like how it turned out for the most part. There are a few parts I feel are a little stiff, but otherwise I really think it turned out well.

Chapter 21 – Been So Blind

Rolling his wheelchair into the living room Artie frowned slightly before addressing his father, "Hey Dad, do you think you could give me and some friends a ride to Cleveland this weekend?"

He watched as a look of shock flitted across his father's face, "Artie, are you going to tell me why you want me to drive to Cleveland on such short notice."

"Well there's this thing for a friend," Artie spoke vaguely at first. "We didn't know it was in Cleveland until a few days ago and Mr. and Mrs. Hummel are driving and so is Ms. Anderson but there's not going to be enough room for the whole club and we already know that your van can take my chair so…" he trailed off with a shrug.

"Is this a glee club thing?" His father asked in a soft voice, "because you know if it is I don't have a problem giving you and a few members a ride." A softened look came over his dad's face and Artie tilted his head as his father continued, "I've seen you come out of your shell so much the past few years since joining that club."

Artie flushed slightly and nodded his head, "It is kind of a glee club thing." He chewed his lip, "Um you heard about what happened a few months ago right; to one of my friends?"

A pained look came over his father's face, "Yes I heard." Then there was a look of recognition; "Is this 'thing for a friend' for him then?"

"Yeah, it's a rally and the club wants to perform and go support him," Artie spoke in a slightly thick voice.

"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?" His father asked with a frown.

"Well the people we're going for, Kurt and Blaine are gay," Artie said carefully, before continuing quickly, "and really we've never talked about it- well I've never heard you express an opinion one way or another so I wasn't sure- I'm just not sure where you stand on the subject."

"People are people, son, and they have rights to their own bodies," his father told him simply, "Who they love has no impact on that. Especially when they're part of a club that's made my son more confident than I've ever seen him," to both of them the added words of since the accident went unsaid. He frowned for a moment, "I'm a little disappointed that you think so little of me-"

"It's not that Dad," Artie assured him quickly, "I just wanted to be sure. Kurt's really been through enough and I didn't want to risk anyone upsetting him, you know?"

His father's face softened and he smiled, "Alright Artie I get it. You're a good kid." He paused for a moment and sighed, "So when are we leaving for Cleveland and how long are we staying? Are your friends pitching in gas money?"

"Leave it all to me Dad," Artie told his father confidently as he pulled out his cell phone and started tapping out a mass text message, "I'll figure everything out. All you have to do is get us there."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" David turned to Jeff and licked his lips, "Well all know that Blaine doesn't really get along with his parents."

Jeff nodded his head, "They're probably going anyways and since none of our parents can do it and won't let us go along we might as well see if we can get a ride." He shrugged his shoulders and rocked on his heels, "It's the most logical solution."

"Except Blaine's told us several times that his parents don't really support him," Wes shook his head as they stood on the front stoop arguing. "They blame him Jeff; so why on Earth would they go to a rally that protests the very thing they're doing?"

"Well then we just have to convince them they're being dumb," Jeff added, sounding confident and smiling slightly. He paused for a minute, looking at the two other Warblers with him, "If Blaine needs us there then he's obviously going to need his parents there too."

"I still think this is a bad idea," David muttered as he pressed his index finger to the doorbell and waited for someone to answer the door. An olive skinned woman with straight black hair answered the door and stared at them for a moment.

"You must be friends of Blaine's from school," she said in a slightly tense voice. "He lives with his aunt now in Lima if you want to see him."

"Actually," Jeff spoke up as he plastered on a smile, "We were hoping to speak to you and Mr. Anderson. We know you're probably going to Cleveland to support him during the rally-"

"Cleveland?" She looked confused and waved them in anyways. She frowned and motioned for them to sit on the couch, "What's all this about Cleveland? What rally?"

"Never mind Mrs. Anderson," Wes spoke in a stiff voice. "Jeff here has mistaken you for good parents. We apologize."

Her face crumpled at the remark and she opened her mouth to protest when a loud booming voice interrupted.

"How dare you speak to my wife like that?" Mr. Anderson growled as he walked into the room with heavy footsteps and leveled a glare at the three boys, "Leave now."

"How dare I?" Wes shook his head, his lip curling angrily, "You're one to talk. I guess you're not aware of how many times I've had to comfort your son because you couldn't give a shit about him."

The look on Mr. Anderson's face, if possible, became angrier. "He's my son, of course I care about him, but coddling him isn't going to make him any tougher. It's a tough world and that kid needs to learn to grow up and accept it."

"It's a tough world?" David looked green, which was difficult considering his dark coloring. "I think Blaine knows that Mr. Anderson. In a nice world people wouldn't have to fight off rape attempts or suffer nightmares or put up with parents like you."

Nate Anderson's face tightened even further and he looked to the slight blond kid, expecting him to try to give him a piece of his mind too, but instead the teen just looked shocked. "What, don't you have something to say too?"

Jeff stared at him for a long moment and something inside of his broke, "Yeah actually I do," he said in a tight voice, like he was trying desperately to hold something back. "Before this I thought the best of people. I used to think that bad things only happened to other people, not my friends. I used to think that with a little patience everyone could learn to love each other like we do at Dalton." He paused for a second and kept his voice from breaking, "I used to think parents loved their children. I guess I was wrong."

Wes laid a hand on Jeff's shoulder. The other teen was largely an optimist but it looked like Mr. Anderson had at least temporarily shattered his optimism. "Do either of you even know what happened to Blaine?" Wes asked in a much softer voice than the one he'd used earlier, hoping that maybe one of the two adults had a heart; that maybe they were just ignorant of to the extent of what had happened to Blaine.

"My bleeding heart sister has already given us this lecture kid," Mr. Anderson shook his head, "I believe you should leave now."

"You don't even know, do you?" Wes asked again, his voice still tight.

"I don't need to be lectured by some pompous little brat! Now I asked you to leave my house," Mr. Anderson's voice rose even louder.

"Nate," Mrs. Anderson spoke softly, her eyes turning to her husband, "Let them say their piece. Obviously this means a lot to them." Her eyes flickered to Jeff who seemed more sad and lost than angry, unlike the other two boys.

He let out a grumble and crossed his arms but didn't argue with his wife.

"Blaine came over to my house a little while ago," Wes began in a thick voice and shook his head. "He was distraught and he finally told us everything," he motioned to himself and David. "He told us about how a teenager he knew had raped someone else, someone he cared about, had pinned him against a locker and started taunting him, basically telling him he was next. He told us-" he stopped shaking his head.

David took a breath and took over for his best friend, "that he threatened to scream to try and make Karofsky leave him alone and do you know what that bastard did? He threatened to kill him." He swallowed his anger carefully before adding, "And why shouldn't Blaine have believed him? The kid raped Kurt, was about to try to rape him; murder and rape are both horrible things and Karofsky had already proved himself capable of one of them."

He stopped for a second, surprised to see that a tear had slipped silently from Mrs. Anderson's eye. He looked at Mr. Anderson who looked unaffected by the spiel and tried a slightly different tactic, "If someone grabbed your wife and threatened to rape her, what would you do?"

Mr. Anderson let out a guttural growl like he was about to pounce at him.

"The very idea pisses you off. You wouldn't want someone to hurt her like that. You wouldn't be able to stand it, would you?"

The older man looked at his wife, but didn't speak. It didn't matter; to the boys his response was answer enough.

"What about your sister? What if someone pinned her down and touched her without her permission, what would you do?" David dodged to the side when Mr. Anderson's anger split open and the man lunged at him with a raise fist at the implication. He breathed heavily as he continued, "Upsets you to think about it, doesn't it? Makes you want to hit me for just suggesting it, doesn't it? I bet if someone actually tried it you might get a little too angry to control yourself. I understand that." He paused, his voice rising angrily until he was yelling, "What I don't understand is how it's any different when it's your child? Shouldn't you be angrier?"

"He's gay-" Mr. Anderson practically spat, but he was soon cut off.

"He likes boys, so what?" David yelled back, surprising Wes, Jeff and even himself as he pushed his face close to the adults, "So does your wife. She's married to you so obviously she likes men. Ms. Anderson likes men too, doesn't she? Does that mean it's okay? No it doesn't. Nothing makes it okay. So what if he's a boy. He's sixteen years old, a sophomore, and a senior, an eighteen year old man tried to force himself on him. That's not okay! I don't see why you think it is." He stopped to catch his breath and lowered his voice to a more respectable level, "Everyone has the rights to their own body. Being gay doesn't preclude that." There was a beat of silence, "and everyone deserves parents who care, but for some reason Blaine got stuck with you."

Mr. Anderson didn't speak, instead he pointed to the door again as he stepped back from the angry teenager.

"Nate," his wife's voice was soft and she looked at the three teens, "just wait a minute. What exactly is this rally about?"

"It's a Denim Day rally. It supports survivors of sexual abuse and reminds them that it's not their fault," Jeff spoke up in a quiet voice, although his words were sharp. "It's this weekend and I know that it would mean a lot to Blaine if you could make it. The rest of us, well we kind of need a ride and that's why we came here, but I guess that was a bad idea."

"Yes it was," Mr. Anderson said in a low growl, "I've never been more disrespected in my life. Now there's a business meeting this weekend so obviously my wife and I won't be attending. I suggest you leave, now."

The three boys left the house in silence, Wes's arm around Jeff's shoulders gently and when the door closed Dawn turned to look at her husband, her eyes glossy, "Nate, have we really been so blind?"

He looked at her with a frown, "What are you talking about?"

"Those boys-"

"Are disrespectful, pompous, little brats," Nate shook his head. "If Blaine still lived here he would not be hanging out with them."

"They've been the ones helping him," she frowned, her voice still soft. "They care about him and emotions were running high. I'm sure in any other situation they'd be very polite, respectable young men. We've met Wes and David before so you know it's true." She paused for a moment at her husband's silence, "They're right you know. Blaine is just a child, and what they said; is it really any difference who or what a person is? Blaine had a right to say no and- and that other boy didn't have a right to ignore him." She swallowed thickly and her eyes shone a little brighter with salty tears, "That's not his fault Nate. We- we've been so wrong."

"A boy doesn't become a man by being weak Dawn," he spoke in a firm voice. "Blaine will thank us later when he realizes we've done him a favor."

"He's not a man," Dawn's voice trembled as she struggled to hide her irritation, "He's just a boy Nate. He's still just a boy and even fully grown adults would have trouble dealing with something like that. I know if it happened to me I'd be a mess."

"You're a woman-"

"So what?" She shook her head and her mouth dropped open, "He's a child." She stared at her husband as if she was really seeing him for the first time. "Do you even care what happens to him?"

"Of course I do," his head snapped around at the implication. "He's my son. I'm going to do what I think it best for him and what's best for him to forget it and move on. All these dramatics aren't going to help him. A stiff upper lip and thicker skin is what he needs and coddling him isn't going to give that to him." He shook his head, "I thought you agreed with me."

"Maybe for some things that would help, but it's occurred to me that this isn't one of those things," she spoke in a quiet voice. "I don't want him to be hurting Nate, it kills me."

"And do you think I like it?" He retorted angrily. "Don't you think I want to march myself into that prison and wring that little asshole's neck? Of course I do but that's not going to help Blaine. He needs to be strong Dawn, and calm and moved past this already. Lingering over it is not going to help him." He paused for a moment, "I understand that his friend might take a bit longer in that sense. He was raped, but Blaine was not and well- he should be over it by now." He bit down on his lip, "It's not- I can't see him hurting Dawn and I'm not about to watch him hang onto that pain."

"So instead you're just going to add to it?" She asked in a thick voice, "because that's what you're doing. That's what we did when we walked out of his life and refused to support him." She shook her head, "I don't see why he'd want to hang on to that pain- from what I hear he's desperately trying to let go, but Nate this has to be really hard for him."

"Life is hard," he growled, steeling himself, "His entire life is going to be hard. He's gay. I'm not saying it's bad that he's gay or whatever, but it's certainly not going to make life easy for him now is it? That much has already proved obvious."

She licked her lips and swallowed. There was a deep breath and she stood up carefully and smoothed down her dress, before leveling her eyes at her husband, "I'm leaving."

He rolled his eyes and sighed, "Alright. I'll see you tonight."

"No Nate, I'm leaving, as in not coming back," she told him, her voice no longer trembling but firm. "I can't- I can't accept that you won't help our son. I hate myself enough already for waiting so long to realize how horrible of a mother I've been and I know if I stay here any longer I'll start to hate you too."

"Dawn-" his voice was soft and quiet.

"And I know about Hayley," she added with a weak smile. "I've known for a while. I didn't leave you or bring it up because you were always such a good husband. I've realized, thanks to those brave boys that it's just not enough. You need to be a good father to my son too." She took a deep breath, before adding; "Besides good husbands don't cheat on their wives." She reached up on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek softly, before moving towards their bedroom to pack her things.

She stood on the steps for a moment and looked back at him when she heard him speak, "but Dawn I love you. I'll break it off with Hayley. I'll-"

"I love you too Nate, but that's not enough," she told him in a soft voice.

"I'll even go to that stupid rally. I'll apologize to Blaine if that's what you want," he added, his voice laced with desperation, "Dawn please don't do this to me."

She looked at him, her face laced with pain and regret at the way he spoke. It was obvious that he truly loved her, but fake support and false apologies weren't going to help her son in the slightest. "It's too late for that Nate."

"I'm sorry!" He added more forcefully, "Dawn I'm sorry."

"I am too."

It was too much too early to be awake for a weekend and the Hummel-Hudson house was packed as eighteen different people tried to make sure they had everything they needed for the trip.

It was hard when fourteen of said people were overtired, sleepy, irritable teenagers.

"Are you sure you need all of that Kurt," Burt asked his son in a careful voice when he saw the two bags his son had packed up, "We're coming back tomorrow."

Kurt frowned at his father and blinked tiredly, "I had to pack my entire moisturizing routine and pajamas and possible outfits for tomorrow. Trust me Dad, all of this is necessary."

Burt shook his head, "One bag Kurt. You only need one outfit for tomorrow, so you might as well pick it out now."

Kurt gave grumble and went upstairs to repack his stuff. Burt rubbed his head tiredly and let out a small yawn. There was no doubt Kurt would come back with one bag bulging with whatever he could manage to fit in it. His son was no light packer; he had to be prepared for anything.

He looked for the group of kids that would be travelling with him and found them easily enough, considering it was only two of them and they were sticking close together, "Mercedes, Sam," he smiled at them easily, "It'll probably be a few minutes. Kurt needs to repack."

"Oh," Mercedes nodded her head, before smiling and pulling out her wallet. "Here's some gas money and a little to pitch in for the hotel."

Burt accepted the money quickly, noticing how uncomfortable the blond boy looked as he sat next to his girlfriend. Sam's head was pointed downward and his lips were pursed. His hand reached into his pocket and he pulled out a few crumpled bills, "It's not much, but I can give you more next time I get paid Mr. Hummel."

"Don't worry about it Sam," Burt told him in a quiet voice, accepting the few bills knowing that it would only upset the boy more about his financial situation if he didn't. "It's enough that you're supporting my son. A lot of people would be scared off if something like this happened to their friend; I'm glad Kurt's friends aren't like that."

Sam smiled weakly and nodded his head.

"Alright honey," Carole popped over and kissed her husband tenderly on the cheek, "We're going to get going now. We'll see you when we get there?"

Burt's face broke out in a smile and put a hand on his wife's waist, before kissing her full on the lips despite the group of teens watching them, "Of course. I love you Carole."

She giggled softly, "Burt we're embarrassing the children."

"They can handle it," he said in a gruff voice that didn't hide his smile, before repeating, "I love you."

She sighed and shook her head fondly, "I love you too Burt Hummel." She motioned to the four teens who would be accompanying her in her car. Finn, Rachel, Tina and Mike followed her without complaint, waving to the others as they left.

"I'm sure Blaine would like to say goodbye to Kurt before we leave," Marina Anderson sighed, seating carefully on the couch. Her nephew was sitting next to her with a small frown on his face. Somehow it had been decided that he would be riding with the unholy trio (Quinn refused to ride with Finn and Santana was not about to let Brittany ride with Artie) and while he didn't have anything against them, he didn't exactly know the three girls that well.

Artie's father smiled lightly and gave a smile, "I'll follow Carole then I suppose." He lightly grasped the handles of his son's wheelchair and gave it a push. "Alright son, let's get moving. Which of your friends did you say are coming with us?"

"Puck and Lauren," Artie explained lightly, pointing out the couple.

Artie's father looked at Puck uncertainly for a moment.

"Dad, he's cool yo," Artie rolled his eyes at his father and shook his head.

Shay Abrams didn't make another comment, instead wheeling his son out the door as the two other teens followed with them.

There was a few beats of silence as they waited for Kurt to return and Santana took a moment to turn towards Blaine, "Hey Hobbit, can I talk to you?"

Blaine frowned, "Um sure."

"Privately," she motioned towards the kitchen and rolled her eyes when he frowned at her. "Listen I'm not going to attack you or anything. I just want to talk."

He rose to his feet and followed her into the kitchen, before asking her, "What Santana? We're about to spend three hours together cooped up in a tin can together, so what is it that's so important it can't wait?"

"Someone's snippy without his coffee," she retorted easily, before frowning. "Look the whole three hours in a tin can thing is why I want to talk to you." Her voice kept it's usual abrupt tone as she asked, "You don't hate me, do you?"

He looked taken aback for a moment, "Why would I hate you?"

"I brought Kurt, the boy you love, back to McKinley," she said it as if it were obvious. "I made him think Karofsky was safe. I got him raped." She shook her head for a moment, before continuing with the same faked indifference, "and if you haven't noticed Hobbit, but if Kurt hadn't gotten raped you wouldn't have transferred to McKinley and wouldn't be dealing with any of this shit either. I almost got you raped too and I didn't even see what Karofsky was doing and I was supposed to be dating him, or at least pretending to. I'm not an idiot even if I was acting like one when I let all this shit happen. I'd get it if you hated me."

"Are you insane?" He asked her after a long moment of silence.

"Look I'm just saying I'd get it if you hated me," she shrugged her shoulders, pretending it didn't matter to her at all. "I fucked things up for you and Kurt big time. I get it. I just don't want to sit in a car for three hours with a hateful Hobbit and I know you're too nice to tell me in front of the others or to say anything unless I call you out on it." She crossed her arms under her breasts, "So?"

"I don't hate you Santana," he told her in a gentle voice. "I'm going to remind you of what Kurt's probably said to you hundreds of times by now, you didn't know and therefore it wasn't your fault." He let out a sigh, "Got it?"

"Whatever-" she turned to walk away but he grabbed her wrist.

"Seriously Santana, listen to me," he spoke firmly. "It wasn't your fault any more than it was mine or Kurt's or anyone but Karofsky's." He shook his head, "The only one here who hates you is you."

"You think you know so much, don't you Eyebrows," she growled under her breath.

"You make it kind of obvious," he told her seriously. "You can pretend it doesn't matter to you all you want but the very fact you brought me here to talk about this means you do. It wasn't your fault."

"You don't know anything," She snapped her wrist out of his wrist and stalked out of the kitchen, leaving Blaine staring after her.

A/N: The Blaine/Santana thing was so unplanned. I hope it worked anyways. Let me know what you think about Blaine's parents too. I was really going for the 'care about their son but are imperfect' angle, especially with Nate Anderson. I think he does care about Blaine (erm, deep down or something) but his ideas on showing it and what's best for him are way off the mark. That and he's just kind of a douche...

Also don't worry there will be more Kurt in the next chapter and pretty much all subsequent chapters! There was going to be more Kurt in this chapter too, but the Warbler/Anderson scene got a little long and then the Blaine/Santana scene popped up and the chapter just got too long in my opinion. Besides the part where Santana stalks away from Blaine just seemed like an organic end to the chapter.