A/N: I don't own Glee or United States of Tara

Chapter 35

Blaine's mind was flooded with thoughts of injustice and rage as he drove to the Hummel's house after school. He'd spent all day fuming and every time the anger began to wear off, Blaine would see Sebastian or even just think about him and it would set him off again. He prided himself in the fact that he was able to keep from confronting Sebastian, verbally or otherwise, when it had been so hard to do just that throughout the day.

As he finally pulled into the Hummel's driveway, he threw his car in park, wincing at the pain that had developed in his fingers from gripping the steering wheel so tightly. He tried to center himself before getting out of the car, knowing that he needed to stay as calm as possible around Kurt.

He'd ended up calling Burt at the shop on his lunch break to tell him the news about Sebastian. Burt obviously was about as happy with the decision as Blaine was, but he reminded Blaine to keep his cool and avoid any kind of conflict with the other boy.

"Should I tell Kurt when I come over, or will you?" Blaine had asked Burt over the phone.

"Geez," Burt sighed. "I've missed so much work here, I can't afford to take off any more for a while unless it's an absolute emergency. Go ahead and tell him, but remember-"

"I know," Blaine interrupted carefully. He'd heard it a million times already and felt like he'd proven to Burt that he knew how to talk to Kurt to keep from upsetting him.

They'd hung up and Blaine went to join the rest of his friends at the Warbler table in the lunchroom. On his way back to the table, he spied Sebastian sitting by himself at a table near a window, looking miserable. Good, Blaine thought to himself.

Now, after several deep breaths, Blaine was getting ready to go into the house to see Kurt. He turned off the car and headed in, using the side door near the kitchen rather than the front.

"Kurt?" he called out into the empty house. Carole was at work still and Finn was at glee club. It was only the second day that Kurt had been allowed to stay home by himself since his accident. His moods had leveled off enough, and with Burt calling every half hour, he felt comfortable enough to leave his son at home while he returned to the shop.

"Up here!" Kurt called. Blaine surmised that he was up in his bedroom. Ever since he'd finally mastered the art of scooting up the stairs on his butt and hobbling the five or six paces to his bedroom door several days ago, he'd spent as much time as possible up there, reveling in his much-missed privacy.

Blaine climbed the stairs slowly, still figuring out how he was going to broach the topic. Putting on the best happy face he could, he knocked lightly on the bedroom door.

"Come in," Kurt sang out. He sounded like he was in a positive mood, which was good news for Blaine. Hopefully that would make telling him about Sebastian easier.

"What's wrong?" Kurt asked, the minute Blaine entered the room. Blaine prided himself on being able to hide his emotions from just about everyone, but Kurt could always see right through him. It was slightly disconcerting, but at the same time, it was nice to know that at least one person in his life saw him for who he was no matter what mask he put on.

"Nothing," Blaine lied, voice high pitched and faltering slightly.

"Bullshit," Kurt answered quickly, trying not to let himself rise to a panic. Something was definitely wrong with Blaine, otherwise, why would he be trying so hard to be overly cheerful? That wasn't Blaine, at least not these days.

"Okay, I have to tell you something," Blaine finally relented. He climbed on the bed next to Kurt and grabbed his hand gently. "But you have to promise not to get too upset."

"You know I can't promise that," Kurt answered truthfully. If he had that kind of control over his emotions, he wouldn't be in half the mess he was in now.

"You're right, I know," Blaine acknowledged. "Can you promise to do your best not to get upset, or tell me when you need a break?"

"That I can promise," Kurt agreed. "Now please tell me what's going on."

Blaine inhaled a deep breath.

"Okay, so I went to school today and I was walking to my first period class..."

"You were walking to your first period class and...?" Kurt prompted. Blaine decided he would just come out and say it, like ripping off a band aid. If he built up anymore suspense in this room, Kurt was going to explode just from the tension alone.

"Sebastian's back at Dalton."

"What do you mean, back at Dalton?" Kurt asked slowly. He couldn't quite identify the feelings that were rising up within him at that moment.

"I mean," Blaine started, searching Kurt's eyes to try to gauge his reaction. "That he's been allowed to return to school."

There was silence for a few moments as Kurt tried to process the news.

"Well, did you talk to him?" he finally asked.

"No, of course not, I don't think anyone in the entire school said two words to him all day," Blaine answered, somewhat confused. "Why would I?"

"I don't know, I just...I don't know what to think."

"It's okay to be angry," Blaine said soothingly. "I was really angry all day just having to be in the same space as him."

Kurt didn't respond to that. It wasn't really anger that he felt, but he still couldn't identify the feeling.

"How did he look?"

"He looked pretty miserable actually," Blaine responded with a grin. It had made him happy to see how Sebastian was being shunned by everyone at the school. No one would go within five feet of him all day.

"I'm sorry," Kurt said, furrowing his brow. "Is that funny? That he was miserable?"

"Well, I mean, Kurt-"

"No really," Kurt cut him off, emotion tainting his voice. "I want to know why it's funny that Sebastian was miserable and isolated all day, tell me."

Blaine's jaw dropped open. This was not in the realm of possible reactions that Blaine had prepared himself for. Kurt was obviously waiting for an answer from him, so he scrambled to form a coherent defense in his mind.

"Kurt, it's not funny," he finally settled on explaining. "It's just that after everything he did-"

"Was accused of doing," Kurt interrupted again. Blaine decided to let that one slide for the time being.

"Anyway, he shouldn't be back at school after everything, and I'm just glad that the students and faculty are standing behind you and not him, that's all I meant."

Both boys were silent for a few minutes. Blaine wanted to give Kurt a chance to calm down again and Kurt was still going over everything in his mind, trying to wrap his head around what he was feeling.

"It's just not fair," Kurt finally spoke, tears stinging his eyes. Blaine was quick to try to comfort him.

"I know, baby," he answered softly, wrapping his arms around Kurt, who melted into the embrace.

"He shouldn't be treated like that."

Blaine immediately stiffened and his hand stopped rubbing circles into Kurt's back. Surely he must have misheard him. Kurt, feeling Blaine's reaction, sat back up and faced Blaine, tears now sliding slowly down his face.

"What?" Blaine asked. He just knew that he'd misunderstood Kurt's muffled words as he was pressed against him.

"They shouldn't be treating Sebastian like that, like he's a leper."

"Kurt," Blaine tried with everything inside of him to stop the anger that was rising within him. "You can't be serious, after everything he did to you-"

"One thing," Kurt responded. "He made one mistake, if he even did it, and it just got way out of hand."

"Kurt, listen to yourself," Blaine said through gritted teeth, voice rising. "It wasn't just the car, he tried to blackmail me using you to accomplish his selfish little goals. He outed Nick to his parents and got him beat up and he's done nothing but terrorize us since he set foot in Ohio."

"Who knows what's going on in his life at home," Kurt reasoned, erratically shaking his head. He could feel himself getting more worked up. "There's got to be a good reason he's lashing out like this-"

"Are you fucking stupid?"

Blaine's hand flew to his mouth the second the words were out. His eyes grew as wide as saucers and he wished with every cell in his body that he could take it back. Kurt froze, jaw dropped and looking like Blaine had just stabbed him in the gut.

Neither boy spoke at first. They continued to stare at each other, each searching the other's face, Blaine looking for reassurance that he hadn't just destroyed everything, and Kurt looking for some explanation, some reason as to why Blaine would ever say that to him.

"Kurt, oh God, I didn't, I am so sor-"

Blaine shut up when Kurt held his hand out, silencing him.

"Don't," Kurt ordered. He cast one more warning glance at Blaine before scooting to the edge of the bed. Placing both feet on the ground, he put his wait on his good foot and hobbled to his en suite bathroom.

"Where are you going?" Blaine asked desperately, even though it was obvious. He was answered by a loud door slam and the sound of quiet crying shortly after.

"Shit, shit, shit," Blaine muttered quietly to himself. He'd failed to do what he'd made Kurt promise to at least attempt. He lost his cool. And what was so stupid about the whole thing was that he was upset at Kurt for not being angry enough at Sebastian. How many times had he had to remind himself over the past few weeks that Kurt was kind and tender-hearted and always searching for the best in people, even when they did wrong by him? It had been the same with Karofsky and even with Finn when they'd first learned that they were going to be step-brothers.

Blaine and Burt had confided in each other their frustrations with Kurt's insistence that everything was being blown out of proportion and that there was still a chance that Sebastian hadn't even done it to begin with. They both agreed that they would try to reason gently with Kurt, but it was understood that they wouldn't push him too far, he'd already been through enough.

Now, Blaine was laid back on Kurt's bed, heels of his hands pushed hard into his eyes, trying to think of a way to fix everything. After a few minutes, the crying from the bathroom subsided. Blaine sat up, waiting for Kurt to emerge and yell at him or kick him out or do something. Anything was better than just sitting there, listening to his boyfriend cry and not be allowed to comfort him.

"Kurt?" Blaine called out tentatively as the silence wore on. "Will you please come out here and talk to me?"

He received no answer. Several more minutes passed and Blaine finally lifted his head hopefully to the sound of the bathroom door clicking open. He stood up expectantly and almost stumbled back when he looked at Kurt's face.

His makeup was immaculate, but definitely unexpected.

"Blaine dear, why don't you have a seat?"

Blaine immediately recognized the airy, feminine voice as belonging to Gina, of course the make-up helped. She'd also put on a long bathrobe, probably to cover up Kurt's boy clothes and to appear more womanly. Blaine did as he was told and sat slowly back on the bed as Gina hobbled as gracefully as possible to sit down beside him.

"I, I didn't mean what I said," Blaine stuttered. "I would never say that, I just...I just lost control for a second."

"Oh, there there," Gina murmured gently, patting Blaine on the knee. "Everyone makes mistakes, sweetie pie, but you should really try to be more careful with Kurtsie. He's so fragile, and well, he's just not cut out for this kind of stress."

"Is that why you're here?"

"Sometimes a delicate situation needs a woman's touch," she answered simply.

"I really just need to talk to Kurt," Blaine explained, sounding as desperate as he felt. "I need to apologize and make him understand that I didn't mean it."

"He just needs some time," Gina explained. "I take good care of him and goodness knows he needs a mother in his life. Just between you and me, I'm not sure that this Carole lady is the right woman for the job."

"What's going on in here?"

Blaine whipped his upper torso around on the bed to face the doorway, where an upset-looking Burt stood. Blaine opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, Gina was already speaking.

"Oh, Burt dear, hello," she greeted, standing up from the bed. "Blaine and I were just having a little chit chat. I bet you boys are famished! I'll go get started on dinner. How does chicken cordon bleu sound?"

"Fine," Burt answered, eyeing her warily as she hopped past him and headed slowly downstairs. Once she was gone, he refocused on Blaine.

"I take it the conversation didn't go well?" Burt asked, already knowing the answer.

"No, it most definitely did not go well," Blaine answered. How in the world was he going to explain this one?

"I kind of figured this might happen," Burt sighed. "At least it's Gina and not Conrad. And chicken cordon bleu does sound delicious-"

"Burt," Blaine cut him off. He briefly contemplated not disclosing what happened to Burt, but in the end he decided he had to, both because he'd made it a point to be completely honest with the elder Hummel and because he deserved whatever punishment was due to him.

"Yeah?"

"I made a mistake, a really big mistake."

"What do you mean, you made a mistake?" Burt said, trying to tone the intimidation down in his voice. Kurt, Carole and Finn had all taken turns in the past letting Burt know that he sometimes made himself unapproachable with his tone when he was upset.

"I lost my temper with Kurt," Blaine said, voice shaking. "And I think that's why he transitioned."

"What did you say?"

"I-I..."

"Spit it out, Blaine."

"I called him stupid," Blaine answered, with a measure of fear evident in the tremble of his voice. "I didn't mean it and I wanted to take it back the minute I said it, but it was too late. Burt, I'm so sorry, I-"

"Get out," Burt ordered quietly. His face was nearly purple with restraint. "We will talk about this tomorrow, when everything has calmed down, but right now I need to focus on Kurt and you need to leave."

Blaine was speechless. He knew he deserved it, but at the same time he was terrified that he'd ruined everything; his relationship with Kurt, his trust with Burt, and now he was being kicked out of the house.

"Burt, sir, please, I need to fix this," Blaine begged.

"I'm not going to tell you again, Blaine," Burt answered in a voice that clearly let Blaine know that he was seriously testing Burt's patience. "You need to leave now. I will call you tomorrow and we will talk about this."

Blaine kept his mouth shut and answered with a simple nod. He slunk passed Burt and headed down the stairs, making a bee line for the door. In the background of his mind, he heard Gina call after him, asking why he wasn't staying for dinner. He didn't answer. Instead, he headed outside and got into his car. Buckling his seatbelt, he slammed his hand hard against the steering wheel and laid his head there briefly, growling in frustration.

Finally, he started his car and began the long drive back to Dalton, not knowing whether he would ever be able to fix his relationships with the Hummels.