Hi Everyone!

Happy new year!

I'm sorry for letting you wait so long again. I'm on a research trip right now, although it's really exciting, it's exhausting as well, so I completely forgot about my stories… One more week and I'll be back to my normal schedule.

Blaine woke up early the next morning. He wanted to sleep, he really needed it, but he was too excited to stay in bed any longer. He had spent half of the night thinking about himself and Kurt. He was so happy that they gave themselves a second chance, even if he knew that there was a long way waiting for them until everything was fine again. But they would be fine with time, he knew they would. And it was his time to start working on their relationship.

He got dressed and silently walked out of his room, trying not to wake the others. It didn't work, though. As he passed Kurt who still occupied his couch, the man sat up suddenly, looking around with wide eyes.

"It's me" Blaine said quickly.

"God, you scared me" Kurt said, pressing a hand to his rapidly beating heart.

Although he was exhausted, Kurt woke up to the smallest sounds, still fearing that something might go wrong again. He knew that they were safe and no one could hurt them anymore, it didn't help much. He spent half of the night awake, ready for everything and when he heard a sudden noise, he acted like this. He knew that it wasn't normal but he couldn't help it. He needed time to feel safe again.

"You should go back to sleep, it's early" Blaine told him.

"I'm fine" Kurt muttered sleepily and pushed himself up. He felt slightly better than the previous day. His face and chest was still in pain but he didn't fell like he was dying anymore. It had to be a good sign.

"You need to rest" Blaine said. "Besides, I can't really prepare you anything if you are around."

Oh, right. They had agreed to have coffee together that morning and Blaine had made it clear that he planned something special for the two of them. Kurt was dying to know what it was but he didn't want to ruin Blaine's surprise, so he simply nodded and lay back down, closing his eyes.

"Very good" Blaine smiled.

He walked into the kitchen and went straight to the fridge. He had bought them everything they would need in the next few days, so none of them had to leave the house unless they wanted to. Blaine had a feeling that they wouldn't leave for a very long time unless they had to go back to the hospital or take care of something very important. They needed peace and silence to get over the trauma. The others were doing fine so far but it didn't mean there wouldn't be any trouble in the future. It was too early to say that.

He took his time preparing a good breakfast for Kurt and himself. He made themselves coffee, eggs with bacon, yogurt and fruits and everything else he found in the fridge and thought Kurt would like to eat. He also made a short trip to the garden to get the man a rose, and when he was ready, he grabbed the tray and walked back into the living room.

"Breakfast is ready" he said as he stopped beside Kurt who was also awake but still lying on the couch. "I would have brought you breakfast to bed but since you resist to sleep in my bed…"

"This is your house, Blaine. I won't take your bed. Well, not until we are ready to sleep together again" Kurt smiled.

"And when would we be?" Blaine asked.

"I don't know" Kurt said. "I don't want to rush things. I really want to make this work, so if I have to sleep on your couch for a little while, it's completely fine. Besides, I'm closer to Danny in case he needs me."

"I think he's doing fine" Blaine said as he took a seat beside Kurt and grabbed their mugs. "Coffee?"

"Thank you" Kurt said and took the mug from Blaine. He looked at the tray in front of him and smiled. Blaine made a really good job with their breakfast and he also noticed the rose, a simple red one like the first flowers he had gotten from Blaine. "That rose is beautiful."

"There are a few rose bushes outside" Blaine explained. "This one is my favorite. It's like…"

"Those flowers you gave me before we visited my dad the first time" Kurt said. "I know. I remember."

"I'm glad you do" Blaine smiled.

Kurt looked at the tray in front of him. He got himself a few grapes and pieces of apple before eating from the eggs Blaine made for themselves.

"Hm, this is great" Kurt hummed happily. "I see your cooking skills have improved a lot."

"What can I say? Canned food doesn't taste so good anymore since I'm used to real meals" Blaine shrugged.

"I can tell" Kurt laughed.

"Danny helped me a lot" Blaine admitted. "It looks like I'm capable of more than just a few simple meals."

"Of course you are" Kurt said. "I can teach you more if you want me to. I know I promised you to teach you how to cook so many times but we never had time for that, so… But now we have all the time we need."

"That's right" Blaine nodded in agreement. At least for a little while, until they could afford themselves a little private time. It wouldn't last too long since both of them had to return to their jobs soon but they deserved a few days off until they recovered and were ready to go back to their lives.

"So… Fettuccine Alfredo?" Kurt smiled.

"Oh, no" Blaine groaned. "Please, don't make me embarrass myself again. Let's make something easy at first. I'm fine with eggs now but I would like to learn a few simple meals before trying something more difficult. I'm glad I can do more than three types of food now but I would like to practice more."

"I think we can do that" Kurt nodded. "Tonight?"

"Okay" Blaine nodded. "Just let me know if we need something from the store. I bought a few things yesterday but I'm not sure if we have everything."

"I'll check on it" Kurt said. "And we could go to the mall together today. I think we all need to move out a little."

"Are you sure it's a good idea?" Blaine asked in concern. He still remembered how Danny had acted the first few times after coming home. He had been scared of the crowd, he didn't want to cause him or Kurt a panic attack because they weren't ready.

Kurt looked at Danny's closed door. Blaine had a point. Although the boy told them that he was fine, they were both worried that he would freak out sooner or later. They didn't want that at all.

"You might be right" Kurt said quietly. "I think we should ask Danny first. I don't want to force anything. If he isn't ready, we should stay home."

"What about you?" Blaine asked. "Are you ready to leave the house?"

"Of course I am" Kurt said easily. "Why wouldn't I be?"

~ o ~

Kurt understood Blaine's fear the moment they arrived at the mall and got out of the car. He had thought that he was perfectly fine, right until he found himself surrounded by strangers. Usually it didn't make him uncomfortable but now he couldn't stop thinking about how dangerous these people could be. He had learned from first hand that people weren't always what they seemed. They could look perfectly normal and be monsters. They had too many experiences to know that they couldn't trust people so easily, not anymore.

Kurt wasn't only worried about himself but his son as well. Danny tried to stay strong, he really did, but he couldn't fool the man. The boy was so quiet and pale, he kept looking around in concern and playing with his ring, something that told Kurt that he was really nervous.

"We can go home if you don't want to stay. It's fine" Kurt said reassuringly.

"I'm fine" Danny said quickly. "Perfectly fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

The smile on his face was so fake, both men could tell. Danny still tried to act like everything was okay. He tried not to stop every time someone got too close to him or shake when he noticed someone watching him.

"Why do they stare at us?" Danny muttered.

Blaine sighed heavily. He understood why it bothered Danny but it was kind of natural. They all looked like crap, bruises and cuts covering their faces, so it wasn't surprising that people kept staring at them. He tried to give them his best intimidating look to make people look away. It was his job to protect his family after all. If all those looks made his family uncomfortable, he would do against them. Sure, the best choice would be to leave. He wanted to do that, knowing what a bad idea was coming here. It was too early. They should have stayed home and ordered something for dinner and try again a few days later. But when he tried to talk about it, it became clear that the others were too stubborn to listen to him.

"We don't need to go home" Danny said.

"They should learn that staring at people like this is simply rude" Kurt said almost at the same time.

So they stayed. Blaine still tried to hurry as much as possible, grabbing the few things they would need in the next few days, determined to get out of here as soon as possible. He also made himself a mental note to be more careful the next time and start with something easier like a walk in the garden or the neighborhood. Yes, that was recovery. Dragging his family to a crowded place like this was simply stupid.

He found out how stupid it was only a few minutes later. Kurt seemed to take it easier, probably because he wanted to stay strong for his family, but Danny couldn't fake that he was fine any longer. He was sweating and breathing heavily, he was so pale that Blaine was worried that he might faint. He put an arm around the boy to give him support and grabbed Kurt's hand, pulling them towards the exit.

"I'm fine" Danny said weakly.

"No, you aren't" Blaine replied. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

They quickly walked back to the car. Blaine opened the back door and helped Danny get in. He and Kurt stayed close to the boy who, now that he was finally seated, closed his eyes and tried to breath properly.

"We should take him to the hospital" Kurt said in concern.

"No!" Danny said quickly. "No, I-I'm fine. I don't want to go back there."

"Danny, you need help" Kurt said gently. "Honey, I'm glad that you're trying so hard but you're not fine. Not at all. To be honest, I'm worried about you. Suppressing your feelings is not good, I'm afraid that you'll break down and we won't be able to help you."

"Please, don't make me" Danny said desperately as he turned to Blaine. "I don't… I can't go through that again. I'm not sick."

"Of course not" Blaine reassured him. "It's just… I'm not sure what we can give you is enough. I think you need professional help."

Danny buried his face into his palms and started crying, making the adults more worried than before.

"Hey, it's okay" Kurt said gently. "You are so strong, honey. I'm really proud of you."

"You are wrong. I'm weak" Danny cried. "He said that and he was right. I'm such a disappointment."

"Okay. Stop it" Blaine said seriously. "Whatever Ethan told you, he was wrong. He was just messing with your head. He wanted to break you, so he hurt you the worst way possible. But he's gone. He's locked up and he won't come back."

"I don't believe in that" Danny said quietly. "I did, once. I made myself believe that we were safe of him. But then he showed up in our home and destroyed everything again."

He looked at Blaine so brokenly that the man wanted to turn back time and kill Ethan for doing this to his child. He should have done that. Maybe he had been wrong when he had spared the man's life. Maybe he should have ended it for once and for all, so they would have been sure that Ethan wouldn't find a way to come back. But it was done. Ethan was alive and all Blaine could do was making sure he was locked away from everyone and only people he could trust got in touch with the man. He had already made a few steps for his family's safety but he would call a few more people in the morning. Ethan would never leave jail again. Whatever he had to do, even if he had to guarded him himself, he would never let him touch his family again.

"Danny, you have to trust me" Blaine said as he crouched down beside the boy. "He can't touch you again. He's in jail and he won't get out of there."

"He did once" Danny pointed out.

"That was different" Blaine said. "You are right. I made a mistake when I thought that he wouldn't come back. I stupidly made myself forget about him and all those people who wanted revenge. But it's over. I learned from my mistakes and I won't let it happen again."

"I just want to feel normal again" Danny whispered.

"You will" Blaine said.

"We all will" Kurt nodded. "But we need time to recover. What happened to us is awful. It's not easy to forget and get over it. It's not how things work. You need time to heal and you have to talk about it. I won't take you to the therapist again if you don't want to go but you have to talk about your feelings. That's the only way to get better."

"We should be honest with each other" Danny said, looking from one adult to the other. "All of us."

"That's right" Blaine nodded. "Kurt and I already discussed this. We need some significant changes in our life to get back to normal and talking about our feelings is an important part of that. And it includes all of us. We are a family, we should trust each other enough to share our fears with each other."

"Starting tonight" Kurt said determinedly. "I think we've waited enough. It's time to discuss everything."

Blaine looked at him in concern. He knew that Kurt felt guilty and he didn't want him to feel any worse. He still needed time to recover, too. But when Kurt decided something, it was final. He was pretty sure that he couldn't change his mind either.

~ o ~

They sat down in the living room, forming a circle on the ground. It was nice, Kurt admitted, even if it was so hard for him to sit on the ground. He tried to shut out the pain, not care about it at all. Danny wasn't the only one who wanted to feel normal again.

They were silent for a long while. They all knew what to say but it looked like none of them was brave enough to start. It was so hard to talk about their feelings. It was Blaine who spoke up in the end, deciding that he would make it easier for the others if it was possible.

"This is how we should do it" he started. "We have to be honest with each other. Just think about what we should have done differently. I believe we all made mistakes but if we understand the reasons, it'll make us better."

Kurt knew that he had to start. He made the biggest mistakes after all, he had lied to his loved ones, he had endangered their lives, he had destroyed everything they had had. If someone had to apologize, it was him. But he wasn't fast enough to start.

"I want to apologize, guys" Danny said quietly. "I know I was awful. I didn't listen to you when you told me that I should stay away from Alison. I have no idea what happened to me. I… I trusted her so much and believed everything she said."

"You were in love with her, Danny" Blaine said. "It's fine. Believe me, we all do such things, especially if it's about people we love."

He and Kurt looked at each other for a long moment.

"It's not just that" Danny shook his head. "You told me to stay in the house but I didn't listen to you, even if I knew that I had to be careful. I thought that you were just overreacting, that I could take care of myself. I never thought that things could go so wrong."

He took a deep breath and looked at the adults.

"I'm so sorry. For everything I did and said. I know that I was wrong and that I screwed up everything."

"Don't say that" Kurt told him.

"That's true" Danny said. "Things could have been different if I hadn't left he house that night. They wouldn't have taken me and… You wouldn't have broken up."

"We didn't break up because of you" Kurt said seriously.

"Kurt's right. Don't blame yourself. We had problems way before you were taken and we didn't break up because of you" Blaine said. "It happened because we didn't trust each other."

He looked at Kurt and took a deep breath before continuing.

"I'm sorry, too" Blaine said. "I feel responsible and not only because I didn't tell you about Ethan. I tried to keep you safe so desperately that I forgot that you don't need me to shelter you from everything."

"I really don't" Kurt agreed.

"It's just… I was your bodyguard for so long. I was used to protecting you and I stupidly forgot that we were partners. Equals. That I don't need to keep you away from danger but fight it with you by my side" Blaine said.

"I was really disappointed in you when you told me about your past" Kurt said honestly. He didn't want to fight, not at all, just to make things clear. It was truth time after all. "I was afraid that you were a completely different person than the one I fell in love with."

"It's the past. I was stupid but I'm not like that anymore" Blaine said.

"I felt like I was left alone" Kurt continued. Now that they started to talk about their feelings, he couldn't stop. "When you came home without Danny… When-when everything was so frightening and I needed you the most, I felt like you pushed me away."

"You thought that I didn't care about him. I know" Blaine nodded, remembering their fights back then. "I should have handled things differently. I should have been there for you when you needed me. I should have understood that we took it differently and you needed me to be there."

"I really did" Kurt nodded.

"I felt so guilty" Blaine said. "I kept thinking about what you told me that night. That you wouldn't talk to me ever again if I came home without Danny. And I did… I knew that I betrayed you and just couldn't face you anymore. It reminded me on my stupid mistake."

He sighed heavily as he looked at Danny. The boy watched them in silence, hearing about the time when he had been gone for the first time. It must have been really hard for his family.

"I don't know where it went wrong" Blaine admitted. "I mean… I knew that we weren't prepared but I was afraid of losing you again… So we attacked the building. Now I know that it was stupid, that I could have gotten you killed…"

"You did it because of me" Kurt said quietly.

"What?" Blaine frowned.

"I was horrible to you. I said awful things and you were desperate to correct the past. It happened because of me" Kurt said quietly. It was his time to talk. He was just too scared of what the others would think about him. "You have to know that I didn't lie to you because I didn't trust you. I just thought that I could handle it alone. I was so weak and desperate. I hadn't heard anything about Danny for weeks and you left… I thought that you didn't care. I know it was stupid but I was so upset. I was worried about my son and I had a weak moment. That was when the call came."

Kurt closed his eyes as he remembered that night.

"After weeks of fear, I could finally hear your voice again" Kurt said as he turned to look at Danny. "You have no idea how relieved I was. You were alive and I knew I would do everything I had to to get you back."

"That's why he called you" Danny said.

"Yes" Kurt nodded. "He planned everything perfectly. He waited until I was alone and desperate enough to do anything he wanted to get you back. I regret lying to both of you but I don't think I would do things differently. It seemed like the only way to get you back, so I did what he wanted."

"I don't get it. Why did you have to break up with Blaine?" Danny frowned.

"Because he's crazy and wanted me to suffer" Blaine explained. "No, that's not true. He wanted all of us to suffer."

"It was a game" Kurt said. "He knew that I would fail and he would be back then. He wanted to make me feel that it was all my fault. And I think he succeeded. I feel horrible for dragging you into this mess."

"You shouldn't" Danny said.

"But…"

"No. He's right" Blaine agreed. "Yes, we all made mistakes but there's only one person truly responsible for what happened to us. And that's Ethan."

"I'm still not sure…"

"Just don't lie to us anymore" Danny said quietly. "Everything can be fixed, right?"

He looked at the others hopefully. He really wanted to get his family back.

"I promise that I won't lie to you anymore" Kurt said.

"And I promise that I won't be the Security God anymore" Blaine said, smiling at Danny. He remembered when the boy had called him that months earlier when he had worried about that blog of him. "I'm not your boss, I know. I won't be an asshole to you anymore."

"I'll take home every girl I date and let you question them" Danny said.

They burst into laughing.

"Good idea, honey" Kurt said.

"So… are we good?" Blaine asked, pulling the others close.

"We will be" Kurt said.

He hesitated for a moment but then leaned close to Blaine and pressed a kiss to his cheek. It wasn't too much but he respected their decision that they would take it slow. Kurt truly believed that they could fix things and he was determined not screw up this time.