Symphony

by LeBelle

Seasons 2-6 done... differently. Klaine AU. Rated T up to about Chapter 6, then M, definitely M.

8. Chapter 8

–

Chapter 8

Symphony
Will you hold me tight and not let go?

–

Kurt was a junior. It was never more obvious to Blaine that they were in different years until then, at that very moment. Kurt was an older junior to boot, only a month younger than Finn but older than a majority of the other students. Kurt was older than Blaine by a year+ and while Blaine was right, once they were out of high school it wouldn't matter anymore, it was a matter of importance just then, a very big matter of importance, actually.

In some ways Kurt was far more mature than Blaine, he was able to freely admit that. In some ways Blaine was more mature than Kurt, and Kurt would reluctantly admit that too when pushed on the matter. But he secretly knew it was more than just a few ways Blaine had it over him, but Blaine would argue that it was an unbalanced maturity level between them. He thought they balanced each other out nicely with how they were different and more or less mature than the other, it wasn't a scale tipped too far in one way or the other. They had their own life experiences and expectations.

Right now, it was Kurt who was the experienced one, the more mature one, the one who was in charge of the relationship even though Blaine didn't just go along willingly with every thing. He had a voice in it too and right now, Kurt was waiting for Blaine to use his voice, share his opinion, answer his question and let him know where Blaine stood on the surprising question Kurt had just asked him. Blaine hadn't even been peripherally aware that this was happening.

"Prom?" Blaine repeated as if the word was as foreign of a word to him as dad was to his father.

"Yes, prom, that thing where people get dressed up in fancy clothes and dance with each other the whole night." He gave a small shrug. "Sometimes they do things afterward too, sometimes they don't."

"Yes but, you don't even go to that school anymore and yet you want to go to prom?" Blaine was having a very hard time with this. School dances caused a panic to sing through his blood, memories still assaulted him with the idea of even trying to attend one. He hadn't even gotten through the doors before being turned away. He was having flashes, both mentally and physically as his body turned hot and cold and he started sweating cold sweat of fear. "How can you even attend?"

"Well, Rachel invited me to be her date and I asked Finn if he wouldn't mind me asking you to be 'his'. You should have seen his face. It was quite comical until he understood exactly what I was asking and then in the most serious voice and look I've ever seen him use, he said yes, of course; I'll even ask him myself if that is needed. I told him no, it was just a cover to get us both in the doors, there was no need to confuse matters by actually asking my boyfriend to be his prom date." Kurt was laughing, barely registering that Blaine wasn't with him at the punchline, but he did notice and he stopped laughing and reached across the table for Blaine's hand. "What is it? You're scaring me." They were at the Lima Bean on a Saturday in very early spring. Prom was still over a month away but the buzz was in the air and people were starting to prepare for it. Winter has passed by the boys who barely noticed it as they were in a different world than everyone else, a world that was only happiness and incident free.

Their months passed much like that night around Christmas, sneaking away, touching each other above the belt, kissing, helping each other complete without once having touched the other except that once. They were becoming braver and braver, venturing out further off their beaten track. Going to places that could potentially find them meeting a person they'd rather not. Yet as the months passed, they slowly forgot the threat that had followed Kurt around like a dark cloud. They'd been in a world of only goodness and song and harmony.

Blaine had played Kurt several of the songs he'd written for Kurt. They were too intimate, too much their own that they hadn't shared them with the other boys in the Warblers. Neither wanted to use them at Nationals, they were their songs and only their songs. Maybe eventually Blaine might release them for public consumption but he doubted it. He'd hold onto several just for him and Kurt. Maybe he'd make a CD just for them to listen to or Kurt on days when Blaine couldn't be with him in New York or something.

Kurt had been incredibly touched by the songs, the words had been able to reach down into his soul and tattooed themselves onto it, forever residing there and Kurt had no problem with that. He wanted them there. He wasn't sure how to repay Blaine for such an exquisite gift.

Blaine kept trying to reassure him whenever he expressed those thoughts that Kurt had given him so much more, had to have to be able to let him write such things. If Kurt hadn't been there first, hadn't given him those all important gifts then there would be no songs forming in Blaine's head whenever he looked at his boyfriend or thought of him or listened to him breath or laugh or sing.

Some of the songs he'd written were meant to be duets and Kurt had dutifully learned them, wanting to learn them because he wanted to sing them with Blaine often.

–

He had decorated Blaine's dorm in Christmas paraphernalia when he was in class one day. That following weekend he came to Kurt's house to find the entire basement decked out in more Christmas decorations than he thought could possibly fit down there. He'd thought that for sure all the decorations had already been out, how could they store all of those? Kurt really did like Christmas and they had 2 families now with Christmas stuff to fill the entire house up, but really, they had to have slimmed down on that during the move, right?

Blaine had been incredibly moved with Kurt remembering his promises to invite Blaine into his Christmas even if he never said it like that. He had brought Kurt's home to Blaine's dorm so he could feel like he was sleeping over even when he was an hour and a half away. Had continued that warmth at his house by filling what was affectionately being called 'Blaine's room' not 'guest suite' with more of the sentimental decorations. Then, probably with Kurt's prompting, but maybe not, the Hummel-Hudsons presented Blaine with his own ornament to add to the tree. The first Christmas they were all spending together as a family and they included him in that. They'd all gotten ornaments to represent the occasion and now Blaine had one too. Burt insisted on a family photo with Blaine in there with them. He pulled out another ornament with a space for the photo and below it was written 'Family's First Christmas'.

Blaine had started crying and Kurt had wrapped him up into his arms and kept kissing his face in order to reassure him, to soothe him. He had not understood why Blaine was crying and Blaine wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's waist and cried and smiled and tried to rub the tears off onto his own shoulder. He had only been able to spend the day with them on Sunday and Sunday night because Saturday he had other duties with that girl and that song but it was probably his favorite weekend there yet. Although they were all pretty great.

He reassured the clan that he was crying because he was so incredibly happy and they all piled into the hug then. He hadn't been able to spend Christmas with them, but he did come the following weekend and they opened gifts with him then, they'd waited a week until he could join them to open up any of those gifts and he wanted to cry again by how blessed he was to find that family, to find Kurt.

Kurt had given his dad a video recording of him playing the piano and singing I Wanna Hold Your Hand. It didn't lose any of it's sentimental value, in fact, it seemed even more touching while the camera was so close to his face and the emotions were clear on his face. Carole and Burt had bought Blaine a striped black and white sweater (probably Kurt who picked it out but no one confirmed that assumption). Finn had bought him a football jersey supporting Ohio's team, the Bengals. That was probably more from Burt and Finn and Kurt had nothing to do with it. He'd looked irritated by that gift to his boyfriend but Blaine had loved it. Had loved all those gifts. Blaine had tried to give them all gifts that they would appreciate and feel as touched by them too but he felt like he was woefully short in comparison but he'd wanted to show them how much their love and inclusion had meant to him.

They'd exchanged more gifts with each other and they were all things the others wanted. Probably had hinted at several times and were gotten. Maybe Blaine had read too much into the gifts but they seemed so fitting and unique to him. Kurt had pulled out a CD, something he'd said nobody had anymore so many times but he still made it. He had a copy of the CD on a jump-drive too on a chain and it looked like a sparrow. Kurt had wrapped the necklace around Blaine's neck and put a finger in the middle of it and looked there for such a long time that Blaine wasn't sure if he'd ever look up but Kurt spoke first. "Birds remind me of you."

"They remind me of you too. Probably a happy accident that there are so many of them around, reminds me of you constantly."

Kurt blinked and looked up at him. "Constantly?"

"You don't think of me constantly?" Blaine teased and Kurt's eyes were soft and warm and a little unfocused as he looked at Blaine, seducing him with just the look.

"Oh, I don't think I ever stop."

They'd made out for a little while before he urged Kurt to play the CD he'd made for him. Kurt's voice appeared and he sang. Sang so many songs and in so many different ranges, hitting the high notes and going low in the next song, lower than Blaine had ever heard, a deep bass that he hadn't thought Kurt could get to but he did and did it well. He ran the gambit, tenor, baritone, soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, he hit all the classifications. It wasn't just the sounds coming from Kurt but also the song choices, they were songs Blaine could listen to again and again and again without ever getting tired of them and would fit almost any mood Blaine was in.

He hated that Kurt got around to making a CD before he did, but he still would. Kurt's was beautiful and touching but they were borrowed songs. Blaine's would be all his own, his words his own so Kurt would know exactly what he left behind and what was waiting for him. Still, it might not have been Kurt's words, but the CD was still incredibly touching and powerful and deep and he loved hearing Kurt's voice and would be able to whenever he wanted to.

Blaine had cried that night and Kurt had kissed his tears away.

He'd shared everything with Kurt that night about his family situation and how much he appreciated being brought into the Hs' fold. Kurt had giggled at the truncated nickname, it reminded him of the Bs' he'd thought up earlier. He held Blaine that night though as Blaine cried about how unfair it was that is own parents couldn't be even just a little warmer and Kurt never told him to be grateful for what he did have, just let Blaine cry it all out. He wasn't saying anything negative about Kurt's family situation or even comparing them, just wished his own home life had been better but was glad to have found it with Kurt and his family.

–

Kurt looked like he was ready to crawl across the table now and sit on Blaine's lap and bring his head onto his shoulder and rock and soothe him all over again. He didn't understand, hadn't put it together yet.

Blaine ran a shaky hand through his hair, he was wearing less gel now, knowing they both liked Kurt's hands running through his hair whenever he wanted to and this way it still kept his hair in place but didn't forbid hands from entering without a challenge blocking it's way. Only Kurt was allowed to touch his hair though.

He missed being able to do this himself. He was pale and Kurt pushed back from his spot across the table and the chair scraped against the cement floor as he didn't care and came around to Blaine's side. He knelt on one knee by Blaine's side and took both hands into one of his while his other hand reached up to cup Blaine's jaw and peered up into his eyes.

"Hey." He spoke softly. "Talk to me, what's wrong?"

"It's just- well, it's a dance-"

"So? You love dancing." Kurt held his gaze even when Blaine tried to look away, he just couldn't look away from those blue eyes. "I've never seen you like this. Where did my cocky boyfriend go?"

Blaine's eyes snagged Kurt's. "I'm the cocky one?"

Kurt's lips smirked up at the side and he was caught. "Yeah."

"Maybe on some things." Blaine hesitated and looked around, wondering if anyone who went to either school was in earshot, he didn't want this used against him.

"Do you want to go talk about this somewhere else? Your room?" Blaine was incredibly grateful that Kurt was able to read him so well. He just didn't know if his legs would carry him where he needed to go, even if that was only a few steps out to the Escalade sitting in the front.

Blaine's breathing was jagged and uneven and he was having trouble getting a breath in deep enough to do any good. Kurt released his hands and put it on the other side of Blaine's face.

"Breath, in – out – there you go." His fingers curled around Blaine's jaw bone lightly. "Please don't pass out on me here."

Blaine lifted his shaking hands to cover Kurt's and nodded slowly and then placed them on his shoulders. "I will try not to if you can help me out of here."

Kurt stood suddenly and Blaine's hands almost fell away but he held on tightly and that helped propel him to his feet. They had half-finished coffees still on the table but neither cared. Kurt wrapped his arm around Blaine's waist and shifted one of his hands on his shoulders to wrap around them instead and they walked out with a bit of a stagger and to Kurt's car. Kurt helped him into the passenger seat and then ran over to his spot and got in and locked the door, an old habit that he couldn't break nor did Blaine want him to, nor should he, ever.

He started the car and drove them back home. Blaine was feeling marginally better when they pulled into the garage and and more centered and more himself again. Kurt cut the engine. He turned to Blaine. "Is this far enough?" He shut the garage door behind them and Blaine nodded, this was perfect. This was a safe, private, secure place for both of them.

"Remember how I told you about my own experiences with bullies?" Kurt nodded, he had never heard the entire story though. "Well it was a Sadie Hawkins Dance my Freshman year. I went with a friend, a male friend, I wasn't even really out yet except to my close friends and family and this guy was willing to be seen with me in public. He was straight but that didn't matter to either of us. I was turned away at the door, told my kind wasn't welcomed there. My friend suggested just hanging out in the parking lot and drinking instead. I got wasted which may or may not have been beneficial. I was pissed too. I was running my mouth about the incredibly unfairness of it, just because I was gay didn't mean that I was going to spread diseases around the dance floor. They couldn't keep me from attending school but they could keep me out of the dance, they'd just claim something else as their excuse. I told you it was the same old tired story with people of authority, especially in a public school, nobody did a damn thing about it." Blaine was having trouble telling this story and he felt like a hypocrite when he forced Kurt to tell him every little thing that happened.

"You don't have to tell me details if you don't want to, don't feel up to it. I know you talk about this a lot with your therapist." He had thought that it was helping, Blaine did too but now he found that it was still something that gnawed away at him.

"I wish I could tell you details. I just know there was a bat involved." Blaine and Kurt both shivered in disgust and fear and felt terrified for younger Blaine even though they both knew it ended up ok, not right, but ok. Blaine wouldn't give Kurt up just to never have lived through that night. There was always going to be something, someone who found problems with who they were, nobody went through their teenage years as a gay male without running into some kind of adversity. He didn't want to live through it a hundred times but as long as he ended up right here with Kurt, he wouldn't murmur against it if it was necessary to get him to this point.

Kurt felt his gut roll for the first time in months and he thought he would be sick just imagining the rest of Blaine's story. He never ever wanted Blaine hurt and the fact that it had in the past just tore at Kurt, he wished he'd known him then, even if he couldn't stop it, he could at least have helped Blaine recover.

"Don't-" Blaine begged, knowing Kurt too well and knowing where his thoughts had gone. "Had you been there, I would have definitely have died, I wouldn't have been able to live with you being hurt like that because of me."

"It would have been because of both of us." Kurt argued. "We're both gay. We'd have been targeted individually or together."

"My friend wasn't and they beat him just as badly just for associating with me. He didn't get the head injury though nor had to spend as much time unconscious or even in the hospital while conscious. He was free to leave and submit charges against the bullies. He knew exactly who they all were and they were in jail long before I regained consciousness. I wasn't able to fight back but truthfully I don't think I could have. Even just entering a hospital these days sends me into a panic. I haven't been back to that school since and nobody had contacted me even though I have the same phone number and social media accounts. I don't know if they were just embarrassed that they didn't do anything but not even my friend who was beat up reached out to me. I tried to reach out to him and sent him a message somehow though my fear and panic with every letter I wrote but I haven't heard anything from him. I can't even think about going to a school dance without the fear assaulting me."

Blaine cried into Kurt's shoulder as his head was brought down to that nook there and when Finn walked by later, he sent Kurt a look but Kurt only waved him away. Blaine didn't hear the garage door open or close, he just stayed in Kurt's embrace and cried for his lost time, lost memories, lost friends and loss of his own courage that he'd bolstered in Kurt. He had ran away the second he could whereas Kurt had waited it out until the decision was taken away from him. He kept going back too, kept facing his demons regardless of what they could do to him. Kurt was so much stronger than him, he really was the angel Blaine likened him as, not a warrior angel per se but a passive peace loving one who didn't back down or away.

Kurt didn't bring it back up, but offered to be there for him whenever he had night terrors about it, whenever his thoughts went down that path and Blaine relied on him in return, sure that Kurt would have turned him away, sick of hearing about it, but he never did, he just held on tight and let Blaine ride the wave of fear and self-loathing and reassured him again and again that it was in the past and he wasn't that boy anymore. He had been young and scared and traumatized and so severely injured. None of it had been his fault and it was ok to have left that situation, it didn't lower Kurt's opinion of him at all, hadn't lessened the man Blaine had become; in fact he was stronger for it. He had been so brave and strong to go through all of that and turn into the person he'd become. He had been so strong to get through it without taking the easy path out, he had been strong to live after the attack while he body was so weak. Blaine was the strongest person Kurt knew and he told him that daily. Here, he could express his words easily, he didn't have to fight his own inclinations or the blushes or self-doubt, here he knew exactly what he thought and he had no problem expressing it to Blaine.

Blaine felt better the more he talked about it with Kurt, he was starting to feel stronger again. His therapy sessions and boxing sessions helped too, they always had but that doubt had lingered in him until he laid it all out for Kurt and Kurt hadn't turned away or ran but had held him even closer and promised that he would always be on his side, by his side; he was beautiful to Kurt flaws and all.

Blaine got the first of a long line of songs sung just for him one night a few nights later, they were different than the ones on the CD, those had been just for fun, these meant something deeper, knew that Blaine needed a pick up, just like Kurt had earlier that year. It was a Tuesday and he'd seen his phone flash with a new message and he stopped what he was doing to go look at it. He always would. He saw the text from Kurt. 'This is a song that represents only part of what I feel about you. I don't think any song would ever be able to fully capture all of it and all the songs in the world would never be enough to tell you all of it, but I'll try to at least scratch the surface. I love you so much, never forget that you are loved and deserved to be loved'. Then he saw the icon that showed he had a media file and he claimed that he had to go to the bathroom and grabbed his headphones.

The title of the song was not one that Blaine would have associated with Kurt but the message in it was just right. F*ckin' Perfect by P!nk. It was a balm to Blaine's soul and he set it as his alarm for the morning. It would play several times before he even woke up and would set the path for the day correctly.

He wanted to listen to it on repeat and he did while he worked out that day, letting it wash over him and motivate him. It was the first song but it was definitely not the last, he saved Kurt's message, never wanting to lose it and printed it out and put it in his wallet behind Kurt's picture. Kurt sent him a new song almost daily whenever he got home and Blaine was missing him and his body reached out for his other half. Kurt was missing Blaine too and this showed him just how much, even though they spent nearly every day together. They hadn't had a similar sleep over to that one before Christmas though in quite some time. Blaine slept over in the basement and Kurt joined him for awhile but it was never quite the same, they couldn't strip down and make so much noise and Kurt always came down after everyone was asleep and couldn't sleep in Blaine's arms, just doze there for awhile before he had to pull himself away and go back to his own room before the house woke up for the day, which in Burt's case was quite early.

It was the week before Prom and he had almost forgotten all about it but he couldn't since he'd bared his entire soul to Kurt. But with the weeks that followed and the reassurance by the taller boy that nothing had changed between them, except that Kurt admired his courage even more now when dealing with his own bully and kindness when handling Kurt when the situations could never compare, Blaine was slowly putting his breakdown away and forgetting about it and moving on. He was feeling stronger again, better than even before he did so. His therapist said it was because he put himself out there so completely and had been met with kindness and reassurance and that it was a good step on the path to recovery. And he felt like he actually was recovering now, whereas before he was just pretending and had convinced himself of his lies too. He was feeling looser, more relaxed, less ready for a fight and not gearing up for one either. He was happier than ever, and his sexy boyfriend who was sauntering toward him in tight black jeans and a button up black shirt looking delectable was a good source of that. It wasn't him solely but he had made this change possible and to be honest, he was 99.99% responsible for it, the other .01% was himself or others that he knew around here who had encouraged him and had his back.

It was Friday and Kurt had started bringing along a change of clothes to wear after classes, even though he would only be wearing them for a few hours, it was enough for him. Every day prior to arriving at Dalton had been a daily fashion show and catwalk for him and he missed that individuality that had been stripped away with the conformity of the uniform. Blaine definitely didn't complain, he'd missed the tight jeans too that showed off Kurt's delectable body.

"What's the plan for this weekend?" He had asked before but Kurt had skated around it and now he was looking guilty and wouldn't look Blaine in the eyes or even look at his face. "Kurt?"

"I'm going to prom with Rachel tomorrow." Kurt's response was like ice and ice water being poured all over him and not relenting or stopping. It continued to shower him and he was cold and he stared at his boyfriend as if he'd lost his head.

"What?"

"I told you I was. I told you I was Rachel's date and I couldn't back out on that after she asked. She has no one else to take her and after the blow up about not putting in a good word for her because she was my friend but Finn was my brother, things have been a little tense between us. I finally learned her side of things and want to support her and make up my previous bad behavior by being there for her in this. It's her dream to be prom queen and she only has 2 chances at it and she's been campaigning so hard..." Kurt kept talking but to Blaine he was rambling and couldn't make heads or tails of what was being said.

"But you'll be back at that school-"

"I've been back before, several times actually." Kurt said defensively. "I won't be alone, but I'm not asking you to come with, it's ok. You'll stay here this weekend and I'll see you Monday. "

"Like hell I will." Blaine's unresolved anger issues shot back through him with a sudden resurgence, he laughed at himself if he thought he was ready to put it away for good. He may never be able to fully, never when Kurt's safety was in question at least. "I am not going to let you walk into that school unprotected."

"I won't be, and it's not at the school, actually. Everyone is going, I'm going with Rachel and Puck and Lauren. Finn will meet us there with Quinn, along with all the others." Kurt didn't know how Puck and Quinn had broken up but he started falling for this Lauren instead and Finn and Quinn went back on their ongoing roller coaster ride of insanity. He didn't agree with the choices but he kept his hands out of it. If he was there at school with all of them, he may have set them all right but he only saw then when time allowed these days.

"They were never able to protect you in the past." Blaine argued.

"They will be fine protectors at this event, it's ok Blaine." He reached out, getting over his guilt to rest a hand on Blaine's cheek. "I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to upset you but I couldn't lie to you either. I'll be fine. I don't want you to come if it's going to be hard for you, I won't put you into that position but I made a promise and I'm going to keep it."

"It's terrible of her to ask it of you, she should have known better. You were right, she's a terrible friend who will do anything to improve her own standing." Blaine was furious with Rachel.

"Honestly Blaine, it's not just Rachel's fault. I would have gone with Finn if she hadn't asked, I would have asked him to snag me that second ticket and found another way to find one for you. There's bound to be other people who needed a partner. I want to go, I've been dreaming about prom for a long time now. I would have gone regardless."

"Does your dad know?" Blaine asked a little calmer now, he knew that about Kurt, he did, he was a romantic and had been waxing poetry about prom after asking Blaine, before they talked about why Blaine didn't want to go.

"Yes." Kurt didn't lie to either of them and no longer held things back if he deemed it possible to tell them without them flaming up in their terrible rage. Never was it directed at Kurt but he feared for both of them when they did that, a lot. His dad never flew off the handle though, he always came up with a game plan and achieved it eventually. The only thing he hadn't been able to do was get Kurt's bully expelled from his school making it safe for him to return. Blaine had only paced off his anger if he couldn't go box it out but he'd seen how red and raw they could become in his anger. Blaine often had trouble opening up his hands after. It had been bad when he first met Blaine and for a long time it had been fine, a little bit of redness but nothing like the punishment he'd expelled onto his hands like the last few weeks after his breakdown in the car. He was hurting himself in his attempt to beat up his formless bullies, no, not bullies, assailants, they had hurt Blaine with the intention to do so, not just hurt, maim, potentially kill. They were low-lifes and deserved to be in jail for a long time. For life, in a perfect world. Who knew how many people they had hurt?

Kurt grabbed Blaine's hands and kissed the back of them, right on the raw knuckles. "I'm going. What do you want to do?" He left it up to Blaine since he didn't like his original plan.

"Tie you up in my bed here in Dalton and never let you leave my sight again." Blaine's hands were trembling in Kurt's, and Kurt kept kissing every inch of flesh that he could. "I have half a mind to do that if I didn't think you'd kill me once I released you." Maybe not physically but definitely with the space he would surely put between them. He was sure Kurt wouldn't want to talk to him either.

Kurt not talking to him would kill him but not nearly as badly or as quickly as Blaine would die if anything happened to Kurt while Blaine had something in his power to stop it. He couldn't stop Kurt though, he was his own person and he wasn't in control of his life, no matter how much he wished he was. Kurt was going to make his own choices and have to live with the consequences, Blaine could only choose whether or not he was there for the other boy.

"Well... I'm going with you to Lima today." Blaine made that first decision, the rest would come as they did. That at least had been an easy choice, something he had already been planning on.

"It will be ok Blaine, you don't have to go." Kurt was insistent. "I don't want you to go."

"I-" Blaine couldn't say that he wanted to go or that he even would. Baby steps. "I'm going to Lima with you." He had a tux he could wear in his closet if he made the decision to go with Kurt. He gathered up several options for clothing, the options would prove useful depending on his choices. Like Kurt had to live with his choices, Blaine would have to as well.

"You're not coming to prom with me." Kurt repeated several times over the next 18 hours and every time he said it, something in Blaine resolved that it was exactly what he was going to do. Prom, it was something that had been in all the teenage movies and it always ended in disaster or started in disaster and ended up ok and yet every teenager still wanted to go, dreamt of going and Blaine couldn't understand why. So they got to dress up for once in their lives and look and feel pretty and dance and go on a greatly official date with someone which might lead to more, but did it always have to be prom that they did those things at? There were other formal parties they could do that at, they had earlier this year at Burt and Carole's wedding, couldn't they all just be satisfied with that? Blaine realized he was going to wear the same tux to prom as the wedding.

"You don't understand." Rachel said over the phone when he wanted to berate her for dragging them both back into the lion's den. "We have other formal gatherings to attend. For many kids, this is one of of 2 or 3 that they'll ever attend and most people get through prom unscathed, the disasters only really happen in movies and books. This is real life, it's different." Blaine wanted to tell her that it hadn't been for him but he held his tongue, hoping she was right, that nothing would happen to any of them at this prom.

Late Saturday afternoon he put the tuxedo on, still not sure of his decision. Kurt said it a million and one times while he got dressed in his own room with their phones on speaker phone with each other even though they could have gotten dressed together. "You don't have to go Blaine, this doesn't mean you do, you can always change your mind and not come, at any point and I won't judge you for it. I respect what you went through. You don't need to come, don't come."

Blaine was still unsure of his decision even as Puck drove up with the limo he was driving himself, he had traded for it but it didn't come with a driver. There was an extra ticket burning in his pocket and he wanted to rip it up at the same time as hang onto it like a lifeline, it would be the only thing allowing him access to Kurt. They were going downtown Lima, not the school for this. There was a special reception hall that catered to weddings too, in fact Carole and Burt got married there. It was a familiar space, a familiar dance space and Blaine tried to remind himself of that but he was still unsure. His decision was firmly finalized when he saw Kurt descend the stairs. Puck and the others didn't dare come in, they were all still on the outs with Finn since the night of the breakup.

"Uh..." Burt and Finn both echoed each other, having lived with each other for over 6 months now, they were picking up each other's habits. Blaine couldn't help it though, he repeated their slack jawed uninspired response to Kurt's outfit.

The top half was a very stylish tuxedo with chains and studs. The lower half though... there were knee high black boots and a leather black kilt and Blaine was equally appalled and curious to what was beneath it, if anything. He was appalled because Kurt was just painting a bigger target on his back with that outfit, every single part of it and Kurt didn't care, it was a big middle finger to everyone who had ever turned their back on him while he was at that school. His self-confidence was through the roof right now. He also looked incredibly hot and Blaine was amused and proud of him too and terrified all in one go.

They all stared at him for several minutes. "Go change into slacks." Burt barked and that only brought Kurt's shoulders back and eyes flashing fire back, he would never change now.

"No." It was an outfit befitting a formal event, just in Scotland or by a Scot, not by a kid in Lima, Ohio with no known Scottish blood but very well could have with his skin, or at least somewhere in the British Isles.

"Kurt." Finn was pained, actually pained to have to side with Burt on Kurt's fashion sense, in the time that Kurt had been at Dalton, they had aired all their grievances and bad behaviors and had forgiven each other for everything and Finn was Kurt's strongest supporter now in this and all things Kurt and anything he decided to do. This was just too much for all of them.

"I'm going, none of you have to, as I've told you again and again. Pick your jaws up from the floor and make your decisions. I'm going." He was literally going, he headed towards the door as he spoke and Blaine ran to keep up with his quick pace.

He opened the door and Rachel cheered him on with his outfit. "I LOVE it."

Puck opened up the divider and offered his opinion too. "Great choice, you're going to knock everybody onto their asses. You're so brave man, well done." Blaine wondered if Kurt had talked to them about this before he shocked the rest of them with it, they didn't seem surprised and had been very supportive of it, even Puck who usually had a sarcastic comment. "What? They forced him out of our school, he has my total support to do whatever he wants during his return back to the school, no matter how temporarily. If he wanted to go in there naked, I'd support him, he's my boy. It's his rightful place. He never did anything wrong."

Puck had never spoken that much to Blaine in the past and he must have been feeling very strongly about this.

Rachel just chatted with Kurt the whole ride about what fabrics he'd used and if he bought any pieces and if so where, and how he had made the other pieces. Both Lauren and Blaine were very quiet on the ride but for very different reasons. Blaine was working on not blacking out, running away screaming or locking Kurt up and refusing to let him show his face around these parts again. Kurt was going to push him to his very limits, he knew that now.

Kurt's fingers slid against his palm and interlocked with Blaine's. Blaine opened exhausted eyes to look at Kurt, he hadn't slept well over the night knowing what was coming. "It's ok, you can stay in here or take it back to the house, or get someone to give you a ride home. I will be fine."

"You don't know that though." The fear that something would happen to Kurt was greater than his fear of returning to a school dance. He had gone to other school functions but this was different. It always would be but now that Kurt was dangling his feet in shark infested waters on purpose was even worse. He didn't know why they were trying to rile such deadly creatures on purpose, or were even in those waters in the first place.

"I do. Even if it's not, I'm in a better place now, I'm stronger, thanks to you and everyone at Dalton. I can take whatever comes my way." He had recovered from his terror but he hadn't been confronted with it directly in so long, he was just blocking out the memories, Blaine had never been able to do that.

"You can't even fight to defend yourself." Blaine complained.

"I don't need to be able to fight with my fists, I have my brains, my mouth, my words. I have my wits and my speed and flexibility and dexterity. I will be ok."

"Not if they gang up and jump you." Blaine was having so many flashbacks to the night he had mostly blocked out or at least made into a blur but have never been able to fully forget. He was the optimist in their relationship and yet in this their roles were switched and he thought Kurt was being foolish going back, especially like this.

"They are always going to have a problem with me, no matter how I dress, might as well like what I'm wearing." Kurt chided Blaine's unexpressed thoughts. "I won't hide who I am anymore. I won't hide anymore."

"Brave words." Blaine wondered how brave he would be when the events unfolded like he knew they would.

"That's what I have right now, that and my self-esteem. I'm going to use both to carry me along as long as they can. I can't promise that I will remain like this, but I'm willing to try. I'm in a better place now emotionally and I want to flex my muscles, see how it does in the real world."

"The real world will always have problems with us." Blaine closed his eyes again. "We're always going to be targets."

"So might as well practice deflecting the bullets." Kurt teased but only a very light teasing, knowing Blaine couldn't take it if he took it any lighter than he already was. He wasn't taking it lightly but he was tired of hiding, tired of not being allowed to even see his friends without fear that he'd be jumped. He wasn't afraid anymore, not really. In the back of his mind he knew it was a possibility but he was done living in that fear, he couldn't anymore; nor did he want to. "The ones from high schoolers won't hurt as much as the ones from the adults, and if we get inoculated now, maybe the ones from the adults won't hurt as badly either."

"You jest but..." Blaine couldn't even finish the sentence, it was too terrible to even think about.

"Stay here." Kurt kissed Blaine's cheek. The others were already out of the car.

"How did we get here? You don't even like dances or dancing freestyle." Blaine was grouching now but Kurt shook his head.

"Maybe but I do like my friends and want to spend time with them. I want to just be a normal teenager and do normal teenager things. I'm not going to restrict myself from doing the things that I want to do just because someone who doesn't like me doesn't want me to. I will never be able to do anything then." Kurt chuckled lightly, he knew he was going into this too lightly but he had to if he had some semblance of a hope of enjoying himself. "I wish you'd want to join me, be alone in that world with me like we said the last time we danced with my friends but I understand if you can't. Stay here, stay safe and I'll see you afterward." Kurt kissed him on the cheek one more time before getting out of the car himself and he was going to close the door when Blaine blocked it with a hand on the door itself, offering resistance.

"I knew the second you came down wearing that, that I'd be going in because I knew you wouldn't let anyone convince you to change." Blaine growled. "I'm not letting anyone hurt you."

"He's a senior, he's unlikely to be at this prom, he has his own to go to." Kurt didn't want to push Blaine nor lead him into something so uncomfortable that was outside his limits on false pretense. "It's really going to be ok."

"I'm going." Blaine was resolved now, no matter what Kurt said.

He was there, they spotted him the second they went inside. Blaine froze, terror and hatred rolling off him in equal waves. Kurt blocked him out and focused on Blaine. "He can't touch me anymore, not the way that matters at least." Kurt tugged on Blaine's arm. "Come on, let's get something to drink." He led Blaine over to the refreshments table.

Sue was standing guard, making sure it didn't get spiked. "Porcelain, Mrs. Porcelian, glad the two of you could join us." Kurt's lips wanted to form into a smile because someone was calling Blaine the female half of this relationship and some days it was true and others it wasn't and some days neither were and other days both were and some days it just didn't have a label. Most days, actually.

He dished them both up a cup. "If we stay near the table, at least then we'll have Sue's protective gaze on us." Kurt offered hoping to calm Blaine down but he was on high alert. Karofsky didn't even head toward them and he was looking straight at Kurt and only Kurt the second they came in. Blaine was well aware of that and he didn't touch Kurt, seeing Karofsky grow angrier the longer he looked at Kurt but never caught Kurt's blue eyes in return. His frown was starting to touch his lips and his eyes in equal measure.

"He's here with a junior." Sue explained even though no one asked. "He's going to stay his distance, though, if he knows what's good for him."

Kurt refused to look his way, Blaine was giving him enough of that as it was. He also didn't want to give Karofsky the power that Kurt was afraid to look his way, he just didn't want to seek him out. Kurt purposefully didn't look his way and put a hand on Blaine's cheek, trying to distract him and those green-brown eyes flickered to him momentarily, never able to ignore Kurt or keep his eyes off him for long, even when he was surveilling the premise for dangers to Kurt. He was on high alert but that alertness switched to Kurt momentarily.

"Stay here with me, don't worry about him. Dance with me, be here with me." Kurt slid his hands up Blaine's arms and then linked his hands behind Blaine's neck loosely. Blaine didn't follow suit and he took Blaine's hands and put them around his waist and held them there while he put his other hand back behind Blaine's neck. "Move, sway at least with me." It was thankfully a slow song and Blaine swaying with Kurt was all anyone needed to know they were at least attempting to dance. By now most knew they could actually dance but they didn't say anything.

Puck and Lauren came by, spinning around and they dropped their arms around Kurt and pulled him away with them, he tried to fight and stay with Blaine. Blaine had needed him, he was looking incredibly lost right now and he was glad he was no looking directly at Karofsky but this wasn't the end of it.

"Finn and Quinn have him, don't worry." Puck whispered down to him and he looked over to see the 'it' couple try to dance with Blaine and he moved automatically, seeking out Kurt's location. He sighed a breath of relief as life was starting return to his boyfriend. He knew this was too much of a push but at least he was slowly starting to thaw.

"I wish he didn't come." Kurt didn't actually, he was glad that Blaine could share the prom experience with him but he hated that it was causing such havoc with Blaine's psyche. He shouldn't have sprung it on him like that, but Blaine hadn't asked until Friday. Had it been earlier in the week he could have had another therapy session. He still could have gone and rejoined Kurt in Lima later.

"It'll be fine. You've both been through some traumatizing shit, but you're both strong."

Kurt nodded, he'd known that himself, he'd tried telling Blaine that but he was in a spiral that he was slowly coming out of. Kurt hadn't known he could trigger Blaine like that and hated that he had. He didn't want Blaine spiraling, hated seeing him so unhinged.

"He'll come out of this on the other side a lot better." Lauren agreed. "You did him a favor by bringing him."

"I didn't. I had suggested it awhile ago and then thought the matter was resolved, he wouldn't be coming and yet, here he is."

Kurt suddenly felt very guilty, he was Rachel's date and yet he hadn't danced with her yet. He looked around for her and instead found Karofsky staring at him and now that he had Kurt's attention, he suddenly grinned a slimy grin and Kurt felt a shudder go through him at the idea that Karofsky had still more to do to him. Hadn't he gotten over it yet? He hadn't tried anything in months, Kurt thought it was done. Maybe his return to the school, or rather school event, had rekindled whatever anger Karofsky had been feeling, but that wasn't his fault and he wouldn't hold his tongue back if Karofsky confronted him on it. How could just his presence make this guy so angry?

He left the relative safety of Puck and Lauren, both athletes, both strong, and sought out his 'date'. He spun Rachel several times before he let her stop to face him and she grinned at him, throwing her arms around him. Then they started dancing a faster tempo song and the others all joined them, Kurt somehow in the middle of the group but he knew that was intentional. Except when you were dancing things tended to shift constantly and other bodies would wedge between two people who were right next to each other and people would separate and surge back together.

Kurt was having fun with his friends, nobody was drinking and so he was less awkward with them than he normally would be as the only sober one. But it was less fun knowing his boyfriend was out there not having any fun at all. He searched for that dark curly haired boy with the most amazing hazel eyes.

He stopped dancing as he searched for Blaine and found him still by the punchbowl with Sue Sylvester and her mini-me, Becky. He was standing and his arms were crossed over his chest and everyone kept dancing around Kurt, barely noticing that he stopped moving until they brushed up against him or bumped him. There were rounds of apologizes but they didn't really pay him any attention.

Had Blaine not been there tonight, Kurt would have been disappointed but would have understood. He had been completely prepared for that eventuality. He had steeled himself for a night of constant dancing and knew his friends wouldn't care that he only had 2 or 3 dance moves when it wasn't scripted or a slow song but really slow songs were scripted. He'd cared more with strangers and with Blaine at first, but his annoyance had been more because he had wanted a break and to get some water but was being restrained. With Blaine here, he felt like his head was on a constant pivot, trying to entice Blaine to join them without forcing him to, neither would make that mistake again.

He slipped out from the group and they didn't notice his absence as they continued dancing with each other, their partners constantly changing and not used to him being there anymore. He tried not to think of it that way and didn't want them to worry about him tonight. It was a school dance with many eyes watching for inappropriate behavior and his own two gargoyles watching from the wings. Truthfully he wouldn't have noticed if one had disappeared from the group for awhile or even 2 or 4, he had totally forgotten that he was supposed to be with Rachel while he danced with everyone else. He glanced behind him at the group and smiled with how much fun they were having.

Even Finn and Quinn were with the main group, he didn't know if that was for him or because they were a family and could never fully separate from each other. They were friends with each other, all of them. He was included in that, he missed his family. He swallowed hard trying not to cry, he came over to Blaine with the pretense that he was thirsty.

"You're not having any fun. Go home." Kurt said at Blaine's elbow, drink in hand.

Blaine scowled. "No."

"If you need alcohol to loosen you up, I'm sure Puck has some."

"And he's driving us home?" Blaine glanced his way surprised Kurt would allow it and he shrugged, knowing that he wouldn't just put their lives into someone's hands that was not in the right place.

"He always has alcohol if it's needed. And if he's too intoxicated to drive I'm sure Finn will drive us home, he has my Escalade tonight or I could drive it home, whatever. Someone should be able to drive the Limo too. It didn't look too complicated. Maybe I'll drive it home." Kurt's lips were tilted up and Blaine leaned forward and stole a kiss and didn't miss the slight tensing from Kurt.

"Liar, you're not relaxed here." Blaine was mad, had Kurt not been so relaxed and blasé about this then maybe he could have, just a little.

"I'm trying to be ok with everything. I keep getting looks from people that I haven't seen for awhile. But we're not at Dalton, kissing won't be as easy for me with others watching."

"Just surrounded by boys and it's ok?" Blaine teased. "Why Mr. Hummel I didn't know you were so kinky."

Kurt elbowed him gently. "You know what I meant, we were surrounded by only friends and if they weren't, they wouldn't dare do anything to us. We weren't the only out gay boys there."

"It doesn't matter how many are around, as long as I have you." Blaine meant the gay boys but it could apply to people in general, he didn't care if anyone else saw. "We've kissed at the Lima Bean."

"I don't know why that's different, please don't judge me." Kurt slipped his hand around Blaine's upper arm. "I'm still comfortable with touching you, it's just something about kissing leaves us so vulnerable, even a quick peck, that I have a harder time doing it somewhere so volatile."

Blaine acknowledged that and could understand where he was coming from. Even with Kurt just touching him, his other senses were dulled and his sole focus was where his hand was, what it was doing, the feel and warmth of it against his clothed arm. He looked at each individual finger that he could see, could see all the lines of the knuckles, the neat nails filed perfectly into smoothness and perfect shape. He shook his head. "You're right, I'm sorry." He could get so distracted by just a hand when it came to Kurt. A kiss was even more intense.

"Don't be sorry." Kurt rolled his eyes. "You told me to tell you when I'm comfortable or not and I'm just letting you know my feelings on the matter in this context."

"Gotcha." Oh but it was so tempting to try and kiss that look off of Kurt's face and Blaine realized Kurt had done exactly what he had set out to do, distract him and relax him a little. Blaine found that he did like this music, the dancing looked like fun and they'd already been there an hour with no problems. It could very well be ok and he focused on treating it like the wedding and not a school dance. He had grown a lot in regards to this in the last few weeks with all of the help he'd received and several weeks ago he would have been too petrified to leave Dalton and now here he was, actually in the building in a tux thinking about kissing Kurt. Kurt's family of friends were his friends and it may not be the same as the Dalton boys who had fully enfolded Kurt and Blaine into their embrace, the ND at least tolerated him and tried to be nice and include him on things. It was different, he never went to school with them and only saw them on some weekends.

"Want something to drink?" Kurt enticed and Blaine shook his head and dropped his arms, losing Kurt's hand at the same time but he only grabbed it with his own.

"I want to go dancing," and he pulled a shocked Kurt onto the dance floor who once they were there started dancing too, hip thrusts and all. Blaine couldn't keep his hands from Kurt's hips and danced with him.

Blaine agreed, Kurt was kind of an awkward dancer but Blaine didn't care at all. He had the hip thrusts, shimmy and one shoulder in move, that was 3 moves and that's all he really needed, wasn't it? Not to mention some of the things he did with his hands... was he a Barbie or Ken doll on purpose? Blaine kept the laughter from his face, it was still better than the T-Rex looks. He didn't want Kurt to get upset and stop dancing, even those moves were better than sitting on the sideline, like he often did during group dances, Blaine had noticed more after that terrible party. He just did it while in the middle of the group so no one else realized it. His dancing wasn't as bad when he was in a group but when he was on his own it was very obvious how awkward and stiff he could be, especially as Blaine was just so overly enthusiastic with his moves, even if they were a bit more than the song requested or more than anyone else was doing and just had a natural grace and smoothness. Yet Kurt could nail any choreographed dance or one where he was alone on stage just letting it all out, especially the high leg kicks.

The Glee kids all took turns singing and singing back up through the night. Kurt spun Rachel into his arms again so she was between Blaine and him for a moment. "I didn't know you guys were singing!"

"Why? Want to get up there and do a song for us?"

"I will." Blaine said and both of them looked at him in surprise, Kurt because he thought Blaine wouldn't want to be center of attention tonight, just wanted to get through it and Rachel because she hadn't been offering it to him.

"What?" Blaine asked looking at Kurt, knowing what Rachel was thinking. "I like singing and if I'm on stage then I can forget that it's a school dance where I'm in attendance rather than just being here as the entertainment."

Kurt held up his hands. "Go right ahead if that's what you need."

Rachel nodded her agreement, wrapping her arms around Kurt's waist and laying her head on his chest. "I'll just take my rightful spot here then, interloper." She was teasing but she was a little annoyed that there was another solo artist vying for her spot who wasn't her best friend Kurt. He was an established solo artist on the competition scene and if he wasn't given solos, then people would wonder what was wrong.

Blaine wasn't too offended. He caught Kurt's amused gaze over the top of Rachel's head. It wasn't even a slow song that was playing. Blaine winked at his boyfriend and headed off to the stage to talk to the others who were queued up, he might as well take advantage of this moment, Rachel didn't often hand over the spotlight.

"What's new with you, Rachel?" Kurt asked as he moved her around the dance floor, he spoke with her often but she'd been a little quiet this last week.

"Jesse St. James is back." She rested her chin on his chest as she looked up at him.

"Has he been harassing you?"

She shook her head. "Not like that, he's back in Ohio after he got kicked out of school in LA, he didn't realize he had to take his core classes and hadn't been going. He only went to his theater and arts classes. He wanted to tell me how sorry he was and offered to take me to prom but I already had a date so I said no."

"Excellent, sometimes you have to say no for them to respect you more." Kurt whirled her around, Blaine decided on a slow song for a change. "That's not it though, is it?"

"Finn caught us singing together. He was really upset. Do you think-"

"Rachel." Kurt sighed and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "I don't know, but he's with Quinn now. He hadn't talked to me about that but I feel like that might mean that he's moved on." Why he was mad about Jesse St. James was a good question though if that were the case, but then again Finn didn't like outsiders, he didn't want to accept Blaine and even now he just seemed to tolerate Blaine, begrudgingly accepting him as someone who was in Kurt's life. He couldn't argue that Blaine had been good for him, but he was still unsure on how he felt about the dark haired boy.

"I'm sorry." Finn said as he came over with Quinn, he was looking at Kurt. "I should have been more supportive of your outfit." He hadn't actually said anything against it. "I actually like it, you look like a gay Brave-heart."

Kurt grinned at him over Rachel's head, keeping her pinned to his chest so they didn't cause a scene. "Thanks!"

Finn smiled back while he nodded and moved with Quinn away. He wouldn't have been heard over a faster tempo and louder beat.

Rachel struggled to breath in his embrace, not because he was holding her too tightly but because she was very emotional. She looked up at him again. "Want to do a duet?"

"I'd love to." He kissed the top of her head and she was surprised. "What?"

"I think that's the first time – no, it can't be, can it?"

"First time what?" But Rachel Berry was thinking hard and Kurt rolled his eyes and moved back to take a more traditional pose with her.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that was the first time you've ever touched me out of your own volition without being prompted by society norms or nicety."

"What are you talking about? I've been dancing with you all night."

"Yes, but that's social norms." Rachel countered. "You have really changed, Dalton has been good for you."

"Because I'm caving to society?" Rachel scoffed and gave a pointed look at his outfit. "Touche, Rachel Berry."

"The Tennis Song (from City of Angels)?" Rachel suggested suddenly and Kurt grinned, that was perfect.

"But the Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana version?"

"With a bit more choreo." Rachel agreed and they were totally on the same page with this stuff all the time.

Kurt and Rachel left the dance floor and raced over to the stairs, pushing Sam back and he left them to go find Mercedes then and to dance with her if that was the way these Dalton boys were going to be. He only laughed, not upset in the slightest and put a hand on Kurt's back, glad to see him so enthusiastic and present. He was only a lowly sophomore, here with a junior, Kurt had belonged here originally and he wanted Kurt to have a good night, to feel like he did belong here still.

Blaine turned to look at Kurt, noticing the hand on the low of Kurt's back and shook his head a little before he sang the ending of the song toward him, it was only a few more bars and Kurt winked at him back.

Rachel took the girl part and Kurt the male but didn't begrudge her that, he was having fun with the innuendos and would lift his eyebrows towards Blaine whenever he did. Blaine grinned stupidly back and Kurt loved that look on his boyfriend's face. He could never get enough of saying that word boyfriend! It didn't matter that it had been about 6 months, the word was still so fresh and new and exciting to say.

Kurt did a little twirl before he went back to the mic when he and Rachel were singing about balls being in each other's court, as if they were lobbing it back and forth in a real game of tennis. It was a fun upbeat song that had Blaine laughing and a few others but it was a not exactly a song most people were familiar with. It was neither a slow song nor super fast but they tried their best to dance to it and it was one of those songs that you could bob and move with. Kurt and Rachel danced with each other and did a little bit of swing moves and they were looking at each other with a knowing look and then when they ended at the microphones- the opposite ones than where they started they both did a star pose and paused there for long enough for everyone to know there was a surprise in store. Then they switched into a much faster tempoed song and one the people knew, Billie Jean.

The crowd cheered and roared and danced and sang along.

"How'd they get two songs in a row?" Tina asked Blaine, also a Sophomore but with Mike who was a Junior.

Blaine grinned and looked over at her. "Would you expect any less from those two Divas?"

"I suppose you're right." Tina grinned back at him and then went back to dancing with Mike.

The night was so much fun, and halfway through it the principal got up to the stage and took over the mic. "It's that time of the night where we coronate our junior royalty." He had in his hand an envelope with the two winners. "Surprisingly both were write in votes so I won't ask the court to the stage. I'm sorry, you all did a great job campaigning but the people have spoken. For homecoming king, we have- David Karofsky." Mr. Figgins had hesitated only slightly and looked irritated at the winning name on the card. The crowd cheered but none of the ND students clapped, they were all horrified that the school was supporting someone like that. Except the majority of the school didn't really understand what was happening, sure they'd seen some bullying but hadn't known what he was capable of, they all saw a charming large football player who had fought for what he believed in, even if he was living a lie. "Very nice, very nice; voting a Senior as Prom King at a Junior prom, good job. Very nicely done, all of you." Mr. Figgins clapped, and spoke dryly and he scanned the crowd, he didn't want to reward someone like this but the boy had won the vote.

David took the mic and thanked all who voted for him. "I'm the true king of this school!" He shouted and another cheer flooded the room and Kurt's hand found Blaine's, betraying how he was feeling at that moment. Blaine was so glad that Kurt was never coming back to this school other than for events, he wouldn't let him. These kids were terrible and Kurt was so much happier and safer at Dalton with him.

Then the kids really showed their true colors.

"Overwhelmingly, it was a landslide vote with only 13 opposing the choice, I will now announce our Prom Queen..." He pulled out the card and stared at it and stared at it and as everyone stared at him he looked at the crowd. "You all ought to be ashamed of yourselves. This isn't even a student at our school."

They all thought maybe they had written Brittney Spears or something and each waited, wondering what Figgins would say or do next.

Karofsky took the card out of his hands and snorted. "Of course." He pushed Figgins to the side. "The Queen of the Night, is none other than our very own Kurt Hummel! Come on ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome her up onto the stage!" Kurt stared at Karofsky who stared right back at him, daring him to say something with a smug tilt to his lips. "What's the matter baby, don't want to come up and join your King on the stage?" Kurt looked around at all the other faces of the people who had put him in this position and were pleased by it, hated him so much for just being who he was. Karofsky hadn't been the only one who had checked him in the hallways, the others just pushed passed him, not into lockers or walls.

Kurt bolted from the room and Blaine was boiling for a fight but he noticed the hand missing from his and he looked around for Kurt and found him pushing through another set of doors that led towards another part of the building. "Kurt! Stop!" He chased after him and they left the room filled with silence.

"Well I guess she is just a chicken after all, wonder if she's off to go lay an egg, bwak!" Karofsky joked and the others laughed.

Blaine caught up with Kurt in the hallway and grabbed his left arm. "Kurt, wait."

"You were right!" Kurt spun on him. "I was stupid to think that I could just come back here and enjoy a night of fun with my friends doing an activity that students the world over enjoy every year!"

"I'm pretty sure this is just an American thing." Blaine countered softly but Kurt wasn't listening and so he got away with it.

"I was lulled into a false sense of security, just because I haven't been touched in months and nobody has said anything to me, I'm hated by all of them in there. Why did I think I could ever come back to this school eventually, even if Karofsky weren't here?" God, Karofsky- he was the worst of them, treating Kurt that way, making jokes...

"It was a joke." Blaine tried to reason and his heart was hurting, for both of them. "It was a mean, spiteful, terrible joke, but a joke."

"I'm a joke to everyone!" Kurt spun on his heel and Blaine would have chased after him but Kurt was just pacing the hallway now and Blaine sank down onto the ground to watch him work through this. He wasn't going to listen to anything Blaine had to say until he calmed himself down and so Blaine let him. He drew his knees up and rested against the wall, watching as the kilt flapped against his legs. Blaine couldn't do anything but want to make this better for him.

"You're not a joke to me. You're not a joke to our friends or family." Blaine knew they'd be dealing with this for the rest of their lives, and Kurt knew it too.

"The world hasn't changed, it's just gotten better about hiding it. They had to do it anonymously, they couldn't say it to my face!" If they had, they would have been put firmly into their place and cut down a peg or two in the process. Kurt had a quick and sharp tongue when he wanted to.

Kurt was thinking as he walked back and forth and Blaine knew he would tire himself out by doing it. Kurt wasn't willing to leave, Blaine could clearly see that. "Would you at least sit down?" It was stressing him out, Kurt's agitated walk. "Do you want to go? You don't have to back in there." Blaine knew that better than anyone.

Kurt's shoulders pulled back and he looked off to the side, having made a decision but he wasn't quite ready to say it yet. "Wasn't this supposed to be about facing the past for both of us? Showing the world that we can't be touched, broken, destroyed no matter what they try to do to us?" Maybe for Kurt it had been and because Kurt was willing to face the others and be who he was, he had inadvertently pulled Blaine along with him. It wasn't nearly as bad as Blaine had feared and he was getting over that fear with every minute. He was still concerned for Kurt but he was learning that it wasn't the school dance's fault, it was people. The dance itself had been fun. "This is about taking that lump out of the back of your throat after running away from the situation, the cause." Blaine had that and it had helped with it too, even if they weren't his bullies, they were in a way because they were bullying his love and when you loved someone every battle became theirs not just one or the other's. So in a way he was fighting his own bullies too. "If I leave now, I will have a lump in my throat too."

"So what do you want to do?" This was Kurt's decision, all night he would let him lead and choose what he wanted and Blaine would support him.

"I'm going to go back in there." Kurt was that confident boy again that had been so self-assured that this night was going to be fine that Blaine had seen over this last month. The one who had something to prove, not to those in the ballroom, but to himself, that he had grown and healed. He wasn't going to take it anymore and here was a moment to prove that to everyone. "I'm going to get coronated and I'm going to show everyone that they are nothing to me, that they can't ruin what I have, what we have. We're not afraid like the rest of them, the ones who were too afraid to say it out loud."

"Ok." Blaine stood and followed Kurt back into the hall. Everyone's eyes turned towards him; missed Blaine coming in as well.

Kurt walked slowly and took the stairs up onto the stage that he had previously been on, having fun with Rachel. He stood in front of the microphone while the previous queen reached up to crown him. He looked out into the audience and saw the smiling faces of his friends, who were holding their breathes, giving him this moment, cheering for him, supporting him. He nodded toward them and then looked at the rest of the audience. "Eat your heart out Kate Middleton." It took a minute for everyone to understand what he was saying and Rachel cheered loudly and the rest of the ND clapped and whistled. It was different from the wolf whistle/cat calls that were mocking him earlier, these were pride in Kurt whistles. The rest of the room slowly started clapping too, they had to begrudgingly respect him for being able to come back in and take it with his chin held high and was even able to make a joke out of it. They may have hated him, but now they had to respect him.

Karofsky was a senior and had been written in as the Junior Prom king, it was an interesting choice there too. He never made the mistake in thinking the children of McKinley were smart, and this wouldn't be the last time he would look at these students and wonder what they were all smoking. Was there a collective gas leak messing with their brains? Whatever, he was over it, he'd made his point and they had actually understood it, all put firmly in their places.

"Now, your first dance as King and Queen." Figgins looked at Kurt, weighing his reaction but Kurt only glanced at him in surprise but turned to Karofsky none-the-less, waiting for the bigger boy to make his move. Kurt had done his part in this charade. Would Karofsky be brave enough to be seen dancing with an out and open gay male?

Kurt made a show of lifting his hand up and holding it in the air, waiting for Karofsky to come forward and take it. He had done something similar with Finn, it was his challenging dance pose. Rachel pushed whoever was supposed to sing out of the way and changed it from some sappy romantic song to Jar of Hearts. It was a slow song yes, but one about pain and breakup instead, knowing Kurt wouldn't want to associate any happy songs to this moment, but it was also about taking control and Kurt could accept that for this dance. The song was through several bars and she'd already sang several lyrics. It was strangely fitting and many of the other couples started dancing around them, watching and wondering what Karofsky was going to do.

Finn and Quinn started dancing too and while Quinn was into the dance, snuggling in, disappointed she didn't win but there to support Kurt none-the-less, Finn was looking at Rachel and crying without letting the tears fall. Rachel was taking the power back too, she was done moping around for Finn and with Jesse's return, she had options, very legitimate options. Kurt wouldn't fault her for that and hoped Finn would make up his mind soon. Kurt though was looking intently at Karofsky, just daring him.

Karofsky shoved Kurt into the stage rather than take his hand. "Yeah right, I would never touch flesh with something as disgusting as you!"

Finn left Quinn and growled while he tackled him and the two big jocks got into a brawl on the dance floor. Rachel pulled Kurt up onto the stage with her and he just sat there watching them, trying to understand how it had gotten to this point. Blaine was kept back from him by the crowd that was too tightly grouped and wouldn't let him push through, anyone who broke ranks would be in hitting range and they wouldn't lower their numbers.

"That's it!" Figgins was between them, he'd had enough. "Hudson- suspended for a week. Karofsky, you're expelled."

"What?" Karofsky turned to the principal. "You can't expel me! I'm the king of the school! I bring all your sports teams championships and the school money!"

"I don't care." Figgins shook his head. "Football season is over and the other sports aren't followed as closely. We have a chance to win Nationals this year with the Glee club which will bring in the arts' sponsorships and money and we need to diversify our funding. Now both of you, leave my sight."

"Welcome back to the school?" Rachel asked Kurt hopefully now that Karofsky was officially gone.

"I don't think it will be that easy." Kurt countered, disappointing her a little. "This isn't over, not by a long shot." There were only a couple more months before the year was over, he wanted to be back at McKinley, sure he did but he also didn't want to leave Dalton. "Maybe next year." He told Rachel, hoping that this expulsion didn't mean that Karofsky would be around for another year.

"My turn Berry." Mercedes took over the mic. "Kurt, go back out there. Your true prom king is waiting for you."

Kurt turned to see Blaine on the dance floor, waiting in the middle of it and looking directly at him. Kurt hopped down from the stage. "Thanks 'Cedes, Rachel." He would thank Finn that night too. He just hoped that the fight had ended when Figgins threw them out and they weren't fighting out in the parking lot. He wasn't quite brave enough to go look himself right now. That would expose him to Karofsky off property, even though they were already technically off property, he at least had the teachers and the others in here.

Blaine bowed and held out a hand for Kurt. "I am only a lowly knight, but may I have this dance?"

"Of course." Kurt put his hand in Blaine's and Blaine stood and pulled Kurt close and they slow danced to Mercedes singing a very powerful love ballad and Rachel went and joined Quinn and offered to dance with her. Quinn accepted. Losing the prom vote hadn't been Rachel's fault, nor Kurt's, just the spiteful people around them, it hadn't been about her or Finn. "I wish we both properly went to this school and were crowned for real."

"You were crowned for real. View this as a win, rather than as a joke or malice." Blaine shrugged. "They've seen talent and beauty in you."

"Was prom everything you thought it would be?" Kurt teased, partly worried about Finn and sad that he had to be suspended for Figgins to finally get it together.

"And more." Blaine laid his head on Kurt's shoulder, his mouth brushing Kurt's neck as he spoke. "Are you all right?"

"Just a bit bruised, especially my ego." Kurt shrugged it off. "I've lived through worse."

"So if I put a hand here-" Blaine laid his hand lightly on Kurt's side where he'd slammed into the stage and Kurt didn't even flinch. It would have been a natural hand hold if they weren't quite as closely pressed up in this more intimate position. "I'm glad you weren't hurt. I tried to get to you-"

"I know." Kurt rubbed his cheek against Blaine's hair. "Finn got there first, it worked out ok."

"I have to give him more credit in being able to protect you in the future." Blaine sighed and breathed Kurt in and closed his eyes. His lashes tickled Kurt's neck and those lips were still brushing it too and Kurt closed his eyes, soaking in their dancing so closely. This was heaven, he didn't care how they had gotten there.

"Are you ok?" Kurt eventually asked, he had indirectly asked it before but now he needed to know a real answer.

"Surprising even myself, but yeah, I am. You were right." Blaine tightened his arms around Kurt a bit more. "Thank you for pushing me to make a decision about coming."

"As long as you know I didn't force you to come." Kurt had wanted Blaine to be comfortable.

"The second you decided to come, you knew I would too."

"I had hoped but I didn't know it and I hoped that you would want to come too, but more than that, I wanted you to make a decision that was right for you, not one because of me."

"If I really couldn't have come, it would have gutted me the entire time you were here,.I was the right decision for me all the way around and I don't fault you for wanting to come, facing your own demons and not letting me influence your choice. It's something you had to do and I would have felt guilty for forever had I held you back from this. I knew you were going, even if you didn't say anything. I think that's why I worked so hard to work through my own problems over the last month rather than just pushing them aside, because I knew you would follow through with it and I would too."

"Thank you for being my knight." Kurt hugged him a big closer.

"Thank you for being my King." Blaine didn't care what the others said, Kurt was the King. "And my knight."

"Not your Queen?" Kurt tilted his head a little.

"Am I yours?" Blaine picked his head up and looked at him mischievously.

"Aren't we each others'?" Kurt teased back and Blaine nodded his agreement. Kurt looked around but everyone was involved in dancing with their partners and he leaned down slightly to kiss Blaine on the mouth.

"What about your PDA problem?" Blaine asked against his lips, not mad at all that they were doing this.

"Screw them, they hate me no matter what I do anyway, might as well do something to be hated for." Kurt deepened the kiss and Blaine kissed him back with no more murmur about it and matched him for intensity.

Once the song was over, Kurt got a mischievous look into his eyes and Blaine had a feeling he was going to love and hate his idea in equal measures. His whisper in Blaine's ear had his eyes widening and both brows shot to the top of his forehead before he nodded with a huge grin on his face and they ran to the stage and shared what they were going to do with the band. Sam threw his hands up, it had been his turn but he handed it over to the two boys proudly and happily. He'd sing later, he was sure, they'd make sure of it.

Kurt was still wearing his crown and he was wearing it proudly, if not a little lopsided, and that was totally on purpose. Then he got to the mic and started the slow build of We Are the Champions by Queen. Kurt was halfway through the song when Blaine started in on We Will Rock You also by Queen. They had a fight for supremacy and then turned towards audience and both belted, singing the same words now while combining both songs together in a mash up of both but made it work. The musicians behind them knew how to blend the two seamlessly.

"Pleading with your eyes, gonna get you some peace someday
You got mud on your face, big disgrace
Somebody better put you back into your place, do it!

I've had my share of sand kicked in my face
But I've come through

No time for losers
'Cause we are the champions
my friends
And we'll keep on fighting 'til the end

Yeah

We will rock you.

We're the champions

Yeah, we will rock you

We will, we will rock you
We will, we will rock you

cause we're the champions

of the world"

There was a moment when everyone just stared at them when they finished strong and powerful and then a roar went through the audience and cheered them on so hard that Kurt was almost speechless and then shared a look with Blaine and he nodded. They turned to the band and asked for one more song. They played The Show Must Go On and Blaine and Kurt didn't fight for front-man status, they shared the lime-light. The audience screamed for more and while they had originally done it as a big middle finger to the crowd, to show them that they weren't effected or affected at all by their behavior, they gave in and gave them one more. Don't Hold Me Back was the song they chose next but Blaine backed off and bowed to Kurt and let him take it over in a solo. Iit wasn't until Kurt was halfway through the song that he realized that Blaine had done so, just thought he'd come in later. He turned his head and looked to Blaine who smiled cheekily and raised his hands with palms up and gave it all up to Kurt to sing on his own, not wanting to interfere, wanting Kurt to be on his own in this one.

Rachel, Mercedes and Tina bounced up and did a song with him next and he felt like he was over doing it but he was the center of attention for the first time at this school and they wouldn't let him leave until they all got a chance to sing with the royalty. They let Santana, Quinn and Brittany take their places and Kurt stayed in the center. Then Puck forced his way on stage and sang a duet with Kurt and Sam finally got to go up there too and joined Puck for another song with Kurt. Then Artie and Mike and Sam stuck around for another song. The only one who didn't get to sing with him was Finn but that was ok, he'd done his part for the night. There'd be an opportunity in the future for them to sing together.

They danced for several more hours. The party was fun and they left laughing and giggling. They had gotten a group text from Finn that he was fine and at home and already discussing things with Carole and Burt and they all sent back a text of praise and comfort. He was cool with them continuing on without him and so they took him at face value. Not that Kurt had been able to see those texts until he was let off stage. Then he danced with everyone again, no longer hidden in the center but spun around through the entire group when they were on the floor and not up singing. He danced a lot more with Blaine and even sat on Artie's lap with his legs off to the side and his arms around Artie's shoulders while the chair bound boy spun them around and tipped back and spun some more. Blaine almost had a heart attack the first time he saw Artie do that, afraid that both boys were going to go backwards and hit their heads but Artie controlled it perfectly.

Then at the end of the night they all piled into the limo Puck had driven there and it took him a minute to remember that he was the driver. Artie had gotten a lift from his parents because there hadn't been a rental that was wheelchair friendly and he was already gone. Quinn went with the other two in the unholy trio.

"I'll drive." Mike laughed as Puck was face down into Lauren's lap, beat. He slid out of the car and drove around town, dropping them all off. Tina had climbed into the passenger seat next to him up front but the divider was open the entire time, so they could be part of the conversation still. Kurt and Blaine were somewhere in the middle and they thanked Mike and Puck and wished the rest goodnight before heading into the house.

Burt was still sitting at the table where he and Finn had talked earlier in the evening. He was using one of those stress ball/objects, this one was a pig, that the doctors had given him to keep his strength up while in the hospital but unable to do physical activity. Kurt hadn't seen him use it since.

He was squeezing it hard, if the head popping out at the angle it was and misshapen, was any indicator. When Burt saw the two boys enter in jubilation he released the pig and the poor thing went back to it's regular shape. Those things were amazing, Kurt noted. "Hi dad!"

"Mr. Hummel." Blaine sobered up, catching on before Kurt that this was going to be an early night for the two of them, but maybe not for Kurt. He kissed the top of Kurt's head and then bolted for the stairs, knowing that Burt didn't want to talk to him.

"Oh no, you stay too Blaine." He indicated the chairs across from him that the Hudsons had been in earlier. Burt was due to leave on Sunday afternoon for D.C. and he was anxious to talk to both of them before he left. It had been poor timing with prom but it couldn't be helped. "Neither one of you thought to text me that you were ok or heading home?" He looked at both boys who looked at each other guiltily.

"We got caught up and didn't think about it once we knew Finn was home safe." Kurt smiled cautiously and looked at his dad, wondering how that conversation went. "We were with the group."

"Finn's fine and we're proud of him. This is about you two. I'm disappointed in both of you, you knew how worried I was about letting you go to this prom, Kurt."

"I was never out of the teachers' view, with friends and Blaine." Kurt argued. "It was fine, I was fine."

"Lift up your shirt, I want to see the damage."

"Finn." Kurt shook his head, knowing that Finn had to have said why he got into the fight. "You don't need to see it, it's just going to be bruised."

"I need to see it." Burt countered and it was the side Blaine was sitting on and so helped Kurt shuck off his jacket and then he was lifting up both layers of shirt so the other two men could see the bruising. He winced as he realized it was a lot more than he had even expected. It was red from hip to lower ribs with a darker red in the middle from the edge of the stage.

"Honestly, it didn't even hurt." Kurt was telling the truth, it was a bit of a jab but hadn't hurt the rest of the night.

Blaine had been touching that all night and Kurt hadn't even indicated that it was sore at all, and he knew Kurt wasn't lying, he was able to read those tells with Kurt, he wasn't hiding it either. It really hadn't hurt.

"I'm just so pale everything looks worse than it is." Kurt continued and Blaine could attest to that. He had seen his own fingermarks appear on Kurt's body even though he hadn't pressed hard. Had been very gentle actually. Whereas Kurt pressed a lot harder onto Blaine's back and those marks only turned white for a second as he pressed the blood out but nothing ever bruised or if it did, it was so light and couldn't be seen over Blaine's skin tone.

Burt sighed angrily and looked over at Blaine. "And where were you?"

"By my side most of the night, but I had gone with Rachel and then when I was nominated as Prom Queen, he had to sit back while the entire Junior year and their dates watched us. Blaine was there for me, dad." Kurt held Burt's gaze, daring him to say or think otherwise.

Burt rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I know, God, I'm sorry Blaine, this isn't your fault or fight and you aren't his hired protector, just his boyfriend. Sorry boys, with Karofsky expelled, I have to navigate these waters carefully. You're only at Dalton because of the bullying and threat to your well-being, we can afford it now but I'm not sure if they'll keep you on if there's only the one spot and there might be other kids who may need the same safe haven."

"They can't kick Kurt out!" Blaine protested. "We only have a few more months left and what if Karofsky comes back because the school board over rules the principal?"

"I'm going to fight to keep him in there if it comes down to it, but we all have to know that it's a possibility, be prepared for it. I'm going to mention that the rest of the school has been bullying him too if I need to go down that path."

"Do- Do you mind if I sleep downstairs tonight?" Kurt asked tentatively and Burt looked at the two of them holding hands. Not just the ones closest to each other but the other hands were piled onto the one that interlaced. Their grips were tight and he'd just worried them immensely after being on such a high, but he had needed them to understand. It almost would have been better if Karofsky had stayed in school, where they could all watch him and know exactly where he was at all times.

Burt sighed again. "That's fine." He couldn't keep them from doing what they wanted anyway, so he might as well not even fight it. They were in deep no matter what any one said or did and they had been through so much together already.

They slept fully clothed on Blaine's bed, holding each other and didn't even bother to talk about the possibilities that night, they just wanted to be in each other's arms. Neither had nightmares that night, they were just too tired and worn out to be bothered by them.

They even slept in.

They woke to Finn yelling. "Dad! Kurt's not in his bed!"

"Yeah, I know!" Burt shouted back.

"You let him sleep with the Whirler?" Finn sounded so shocked and Kurt groaned and pushed himself up, Blaine was wide awake now too and they both stumbled upstairs to try to put out the fire.

"Shut up Finn, nothing happened; and it's Warbler." Kurt snapped but it was a bit sarcastic and loving at the same time. Finn looked at the two of them and lifted a brow.

"Yeah, I can see that now. You've got a bit of drool here." He pointed at the corner of his own lips, teasing Kurt.

Kurt grumbled at him but then headed up to his own bedroom to go through his morning routine and needed to make up for the night before. Not going through those motions then and had to do more than normal that morning instead.

Blaine looked at Finn, then Burt then Finn again before he turned around and went back downstairs to sleep for another 20 minutes. Then he'd get back up and copy Kurt but with a paired down morning ritual.

By the time Blaine got back to the main floor, Burt was gone for the week. "Oh, I didn't mean to miss him." Blaine was disappointed.

"He sends his regards." Kurt looked at him with wide understanding blue eyes. "He just had to go and he didn't want to wake you up again. He said that he'll see you next weekend."

Blaine sank down next to Kurt at the table, Finn was elsewhere, probably sulking in his room and Blaine laid his head on Kurt's shoulder. When they sat, he was a little taller than Kurt actually, Kurt's height difference was an extra 2.5 inches in his legs compared to Blaine's even though he looked mostly torso, Blaine was more evenly proportioned. They weren't keeping score but that meant that Blaine had half an inch over Kurt when they were sitting.

"Have you talked to Finn?"

"Yeah, he ignored me and walked away though." Kurt shrugged. "He'll calm down eventually, I think he's dealing with a lot right now. He said goodbye to dad too."

"So this bowl is for me?" Blaine asked looking at the bowl right in front of him and Kurt nodded. "Yummy, but I think I'll pass and take you out for breakfast instead."

Kurt didn't jump onto that suggestion. "Dad asked that we stay home today, Karofsky is a powder-keg and who knows what would happen now."

"What happened to that brave boyfriend who cockily gave them all a big middle finger yesterday?" Kurt flinched as he was repeated his own words back.

"I'm still him but dad is right in this at least, today would be a bad day to antagonize him. We need to let him cool down." He winced as he moved and Blaine frowned. "The side is hurting, ok?" Kurt caught his look and answered the question he hadn't asked. "It hadn't until about an hour ago."

"Have you taken anything for it?" Kurt hadn't iced it the night before either and Blaine watched him move gingerly. It had to really be hurting for him to be so careful with it. Kurt was surprising with how tough he was with injuries and he supposed you got used to it if you were bullied practically your whole life.

"I'm just going to ride it out." Kurt waved off, he didn't want anything dulling his senses with it, it was a good reminder that he wasn't as invincible as he liked to pretend he was.

"You don't need to." Blaine countered. "Take something."

"I don't want to!" Kurt turned toward him with annoyance in his voice. "I just want to get through this without medication. I can do it." He didn't want to turn to pain relievers every time he got hurt or had to start upping the doses because he'd gotten used to them.

"Ok." Blaine held up his hands, never really seeing this side of Kurt before and wondering if he was in a lot more pain than he let on. Though Nick had mentioned seeing Kurt somewhat similar to this before.

"I'm sorry, Blaine." Kurt rested his forehead against Blaine's shoulder in apology. "I am just testy today. It's not you, I just was rudely woken up by someone." He looked toward the ceiling and Blaine knew exactly who he was talking about. "You know how I get without proper sleep and tomorrow is a big day and I'm just worried about it."

Blaine nodded gravely, he was also worried and didn't know what he would do if they did push Kurt out. Whatever he did, it was unlikely to be pretty.

–

EAN: I don't usually put song lyrics in the chapters other than for titles or one or two lines for emphasis. I hope the reason I did so here made sense, I know it's two different songs and different tones and mash-ups are definitely a Glee thing but I really wanted the meaning to get across for these boys. :D and for you guys to have an idea of what I was thinking while combining them. I'm sure it was a pretty obvious duo but I wanted to see it all written out like that for my own benefit too.

–