"Representative Hummel? The meeting is about to start." The secretary said to the balding man with his phone practically pasted to his ear. He looked up to him and nodded as he got the voicemail message again.

This is Kurt Hummel. Please leave me a message as I'm unable to answer the phone right now.

Burt immediately hung up and tried the number again for the twentieth time as he fought down the panic that threatened to rise in his chest. He realized that his son was seventeen and not a child anymore. Furthermore, he was very responsible and mature for his age. Burt never had any worries when he left his son at home to work in the capital. He knew Kurt wouldn't throw any wild parties or drink (especially after the incident where he threw up on his guidance counselor's shoes,) but he was still just a kid and Burt couldn't make his parent heart stop worrying about his little boy. That's why every night without fail, they talked on the phone for a few minutes so that Burt knew he was tucked safely at home. They had a deal; Kurt would let his dad know he was safe while he was away and Burt would let him have freedom.

This was the first time Kurt hadn't answered and Burt was terrified.

This is Kurt Hummel. Please leave me a message as I'm unable to answer the phone right now.

Burt punched the end button and ran his hand over his sweaty forehead. Something was wrong, he could feel it. Kurt would have texted him if he wasn't able to answer like if he was in a movie or something. Where was he?

"Representative Hummel? Everyone is here except for you, sir." It was that secretary again. Burt stood and rushed in. Everyone had gotten settled and someone was speaking as he made his way to his seat. A few eyes fell on him, but Burt didn't care. Not when his only baby boy was in trouble. He hoped fervently that he was just being a normal teenage boy and forgot to charge his phone or something equally stupid, but his heart told him otherwise. Kurt was more responsible than most boys his age and worried about his father's health too much to miss his call.

Burt couldn't have told you a single word that was uttered in that meeting as he was busy the entire time texting all of Kurt's friends in an effort to find out where he was. Thank god he made his son teach him how to use the damn thing. By the time they were finished and Burt was heading to his hotel room, he knew only one thing he hadn't before about his son's whereabouts: he had left the school early and seemingly went home. His friend Mercedes even went by the Hummel residence and said no one answered the door and she had no luck getting Kurt to answer his phone either.

Dinner forgotten, Burt was having a full blown panic attack now. He wasn't at home, he wasn't with any of his friends, no one knew where he was. He loosened his tie and dialed a new number.

"Lima Police Department. Is this an emergency?" Burt threw off his suit jacket and started shoving things into his suitcase.

"Hey. I'm... I'm not sure. My son is missing."

The rest of the night would be spent without sleep and without answers as Burt raced to the airport and jumped on the first flight he could back to Ohio.

The first thing he felt was pain. Then the cold numbness. With a groan, he heaved his body up and immediately wished he hadn't as he threw up everything in his stomach. His head pounded and the world spun around him as he tried to figure out where he was. And who he was.

That caused his heart to speed up. Who was he? His name was there, right on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't reach it. His head hurt too much. He felt another wave of nausea so he leaned on his arm and closed his eyes. His whole body throbbed with pain, but especially his head and his shoulder. What happened? The afternoon sun was way too bright and it made him feel like throwing up again. He shivered uncontrollably and squinted at his surroundings.

He was at the bottom of a steep hill. So steep that it would be hard to walk back up without slipping. Especially hard to do without shoes. He looked down at his bare feet covered in dirt and cuts. Where the hell were his shoes? He heard a car drive by and realized there must be a road up there. Maybe he could get someone to stop and help him? Just as he decided he would trek up there, a horrible thought struck him. What if someone had dumped him here for dead? They found dead bodies on the side of the road all the time and what if he was a dead body? The boy looked down at himself. No, if he was dead he wouldn't feel pain. But he was cold. Dead bodies were cold, right?

It occurred to him that he wasn't thinking straight. He gingerly touched his head and hissed at the pain that shot through his skull. Yeah, he definitely hit his head. Another car could be heard above and he decided he wouldn't be a sitting duck. After a few minutes of trying to get up, he finally got his footing and stumbled into a small patch of trees. His scraped arms were wrapped tightly against his body and his teeth chattered from cold. He tried to ignore the stinging pain from stepping on rocks and pine cones in his bare feet as he trudged through the woods. At one point, he happened along a small, foot-worn path and followed it into a clearing. He was so tired and sore. He just wanted to lay down for a little bit and nap. A small voice in the back of his head said he wasn't supposed to nap, but he still contemplated lying down in the grass all the same.

The house seemed to jump out at him out of no where. It was a cabin nestled in some trees, slightly dilapidated, but it looked like someone had tried their best to fix it up. There were a few little plants on the small porch, along with an old rocking chair that had paint chipping off of it, and and old wooden sign that proclaimed this to be, "Dalton House." The boy had never heard of it before, but he needed help and maybe someone here could help him. He hurried up to the door and knocked several times, but no one came to the door. He tried the handle and it swung open with a creak.

"Hello? Anyone there?" The house was dark inside and no one answered him. He knew he shouldn't enter someone's home unless he was invited, but the sense of fear and dread pushed him to go inside. Someone was trying to murder him and he couldn't just sit outside and wait for them to find him and finish the job! He hesitated once more, glancing around at the bushes and imagining a creepy person with an axe jumping out at him and he ducked into the house.

It was cozy inside, if a little run down. He was immediately in a living room of sorts that had a very small tv that looked a bit outdated and a game system that came out two years ago. There were a few mismatched couches and a chair that were threadbare in a few places, but they looked comfortable enough. He almost tripped over a bean bag chair as he trailed into the small kitchen. It felt warm with wood paneling everywhere and a dented stove tucked into the corner. There was a rickety looking table and seven mismatched chairs around the table. All the appliances were different colors and some much older than others. He passed through into a narrow hallway and into the biggest room by far. It was definitely a bedroom with four bunk beds pushed up to the walls and four small dressers next to them.

At the sight of the beds, the boy yawned, feeling exhausted. Surely a little nap couldn't hurt? Scary murderers couldn't find him in this nice little house. He would just lay down for a few minutes, just enough to rest and then be on his way. Yes, that sounded like a good plan. He started scanning the beds, trying to find a good one to sleep in.

One of them was unmade and the covers wadded up in the corner as if the person had slept in until the last possible second. The boy scrunched his nose at this. Not making your bed was just lazy. A real travesty. The bed above it had so many cushions and padding that he thought he might suffocate if he tried to sleep in there. The next beds he discounted because the bottom bunk had used tissues stuck in the corner and the top one seemed alright, but it had weird symbols carved onto the head board. He didn't want to be sick or sleep in a crazy person's bed. He crossed the room to the next set of beds, skipping it because the bottom was completely bare besides a mattress and he didn't want to climb to the top in his injured state. The top bed was tucked in so tight that there were no wrinkles or bumps and the pillow was perfectly smoothed. He didn't want to incur the wrath of whoever had spent so much effort on that bed. The boy had determined that he didn't care if the next bed was covered in mud, he was crashing in it. The top bunk seemed fine, but he opted for less climbing and ducked down to observe the bottom bunk. The bed was made, but what struck him was all the pictures tacked to the wall. There were photographs of various boys in uniforms and one really old picture that was wrinkled from someone running fingers all over it of an adorable little curly-headed boy and a woman hugging him from behind. They were both laughing. She had to be the boy's mother because he looked just like her. There were also magazine pictures cut out and a little rainbow flag pinned up as well. Further down was a picture of The Deathly Hallows symbol from Harry Potter and the quote about happiness be being found in the darkest of times, but what caught his attention was a little piece of paper with lyrics scrawled on it that sounded familiar to him.

Sun is shinin' in the sky

There ain't a cloud in sight

It's stopped rainin' everybody's in the play

And don't you know

It's a beautiful new day, hey hey

This person seemed pretty happy and nice, and they were gay friendly so he decided this was the bed.

"Oh, that's right... I'm gay..." The boy whispered absently to himself as he crawled into the covers. He could smell something nice on the pillow and he let the comfort of that scent and the warmth of the blankets pull him to sleep almost immediately. Had he been a little more awake, he would have heard voices coming from outside as they approached the house.

Hey, soul sister

Ain't that Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo

The way you move ain't fair, you know

Hey, soul sister

I don't want to miss a single thing you do

To-

"ACHOO!"

"Damnit, Nick! We were doing so well! And we finally got that transition down too!" Sebastian growled at the dark headed boy as he wiped his perpetually red nose.

"I'b sowy. By owergies are kicking up." He said as he blew his nose again. Sebastian gagged at the wet sound while Jeff patted Nick's arm gently.

"It's okay, Nick." He whispered. "You can't help that we can't afford it yet." Nick beamed at the shy blond. Jeff always had his back no matter what.

"Yeah, Nick." Blaine chirped as he bounced up to Nick's other side. "Just wait until we perform Sunday! The first thing we are buying is your medicine!"

"That might be the first thing you buy with your share of what we make, but I'm buying condoms. I use so many." Sebastian purred suggestively. Blaine frowned at him. He couldn't understand how selfish the taller boy was being.

"Why do you need condoms, Seb?" Trent asked as he stumbled over a rock. "Ooof!" Blaine didn't even stop walking as he scooped the boy up and righted him.

"Seb, we always pool our money! Nick hasn't had his medicine for a week and he's miserable!" Blaine admonished his friend.

Sebastian rolled his eyes, pointedly ignoring Trent's earlier question."Well, we won't be making anything if he can't stop sneezing long enough to actually sing!" Blaine shook his head at his lanky friend. He knew Sebastian had anger issues, but the boy knew better than to take it out on poor Nick.

"Guys, can we all stop yelling? I had my calculus exam today and my brain is fried. All I want is a nap." David yawned from where he was trudging behind the other boys. Nick pulled out a fresh tissue and blew his nose on it again.

"You can't nap, David. It's your turn to do the laundry." Nick sniffed as David groaned.

"No way! It's Trent's turn!" David whined. Trent perked up at the sound of his name.

"I'll do it, David! I don't mind!" Trent squeaked before running into a tree branch.

"No David," Blaine reminded him gently. "Remember Wes said Trent's not allowed to do laundry anymore since he bleached our slacks." Trent bowed his head and pouted.

"The bottles look the same! I'll be more careful..." Blaine slung his arm around the smaller boy's shoulders and squeezed.

"It's okay, Trent. We know you didn't mean to. You can help fold the clothes when they're done. You're really good at that." Blaine ignored the snort that came from Sebastian as Trent smiled brightly up at the other boy. He was the only boy in the house shorter than him, but Trent was also younger so he probably wasn't done growing yet.

As they neared the house, Blaine let go of Trent's shoulders to dig the keys of of his book bag. The others waited patiently, with the exception of Sebastian who tapped his foot and crossed his arms. Blaine's eyebrows furrowed as he sunk the keys in.

"Uh, guys... the door is already unlocked." The rest of the boys immediately fell silent. They had been robbed before and were now worried that all their things were gone.

Sebastian wheeled on Jeff. "You were the last one out today! I thought you locked up!"

Jeff paled, wringing his hands and staring at his feet. "I- I did. I did lock up..."

"Obviously you didn't!" Sebastian shot back. Nick glared at Sebastian and stood in front of his best friend protectively.

"Leave him alone, Sebastian. If he says he locked the door, he did!" Jeff whimpered a little and clutched onto Nick's arm. Blaine stepped in between the boys before things came to blows.

"Now, let's all calm down. Nick's right. If Jeff says he locked the door, he did. Maybe someone broke in-"

"If someone broke the lock, we could tell!" Sebastian spat. He was getting worked up and Blaine knew he had to calm him down before a full blown tantrum started. He didn't approve of Sebastian's attitude, but he understood him.

"Okay, let's look inside before anyone gets too upset. If we were robbed, they would have taken the tv and the Xbox surely." The boys all nodded grimly. They weren't looking forward to having to replace all their stuff again. They didn't have the money for it.

Blaine stepped up to the door cautiously and pushed it open. All the boys crept behind him, holding their breath. Six pairs of eyes peeked into the front door. They all breathed a sigh of relief at their living room, untouched and exactly the way they left it. They all entered, far more relaxed now that they knew their home hadn't been broken into. Blaine closed the front door behind them and tried the lock. It snapped home and he tried to open it.

"Well, I guess the lock is fine." Blaine turned to Jeff, who was biting his lip. "It's okay if you forgot. I forget too."

"No, it is not!" Sebastian interjected. He had calmed down considerably now that he knew they hadn't been robbed, but he was still a bit sour. "It's not okay to forget to lock the door, Sterling." Jeff looked close to tears and Nick looked ready to smash Sebastian's face in when Trent slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Uh oh..." They all groaned in unison and turned to the small boy. "I think it's my fault... I couldn't find my shoes this morning and I was looking under the table for them- last night I spilled spaghetti on them and I forgot I washed them off and set them out to dry- it was really hard to get the sauce out of the cracks... do you think they will smell like tomato sauce?"

"Trent!" They all yelled. He shook his head.

"Right, sorry. Anyway, I was under the table and Jeff locked me in the house because he thought everyone was outside I guess... I'm small and hard to see sometimes, Jeff. It's okay. But I finally found my shoes and I had to unlock the door to get out and I was going to ask for the keys to lock up, but then I tripped over that root and hurt my hand, remember Blaine? And I... uh, forgot. Until just now." Trent kicked at the floor sheepishly and the others breathed deeply to try to stay calm. They couldn't really blame the poor absent-minded boy. He meant well and didn't seem to have a malicious bone in his body.

"Trent, you need to be really careful with this kind of stuff." Blaine said as he rested a comforting hand on the boy's thin shoulder. "Remember how we talked about trying to focus on one thing at a time?" Trent nodded and looked down. Everyone sighed and decided to let it go. No one could stay mad at the cute little guy for long. David ruffled his hair on the way to their bedroom and Sebastian shoved at his shoulder gently as he stalked off to the kitchen. He would never admit it, but he had a soft spot for the little dope. Nick smiled at him on his way to the bathroom to look for more tissues and Blaine hugged him. "We all mess up, T. Remember the time I brought that couch home and it had bed bugs in it?" They both chuckled as Blaine patted his shoulder once more before following Sebastian into the kitchen to see what he needed to prep for dinner. Jeff was left standing there with Trent who looked like he was going to cry.

"I'm really sorry you got blamed, Jeff. I honestly forgot until I saw the stain on my shoe and I remembered. Are you mad at me?"

Jeff smiled warmly at the much shorter boy and enveloped him into his arms. "Of course I'm not mad. I could never stay mad at you, Trent. I know you didn't mean to." He hugged him a little tighter as Trent sniffed.

"I'm really sorry, Jeff."

"Shh," he soothed. "It's okay. How about I go change clothes and we can start on homework?" Trent nodded as he scrubbed at his eyes. Jeff placed a kiss to the top of his head and padded off to their bedroom.

It was dark and quiet in there, the only sound coming from David's bunk where he was snoring. Jeff shook his head. Wes would be pissed that David wasn't doing the laundry, but that wasn't his business. He hated being in the middle of arguments, so he just headed to the set of bunks he shared with Nick. After shedding his blazer and draping it carefully over the knob of their bed, he loosened his tie. They didn't have a closet for their blazers, so the boys had to make do with the corners of their beds and their shared dressers. Just as Jeff started on his first dress shirt button, Blaine whimpered from his bed. At first, Jeff worried he was having nightmares again, but then it struck him that Blaine was on dinner duty tonight and he was still in the kitchen. Jeff's hands dropped and he started shaking.

Who was in Blaine's bed?

The boy tiptoed cautiously toward the bed and gulped as he neared the sleeping form.

His breath caught in his throat as he saw the boy's face. It was easy to see that he was good-looking, even under all the blood and swelling from the nasty gash at his hairline. His hair was dirty and mussed and there were small cuts and bruises all over his face. The covers had slipped down and Jeff could see the boys hands were in the same state. He looked young, maybe about his age. The boy looked innocent, but he must be crazy if he just walked into someone's house and slept in their bed, right? Maybe he was resting before he murdered them all and ate them. Jeff's heart was pounding as he backed away from the crazy guy, his head conjuring terrible images. As soon as he was out of the bedroom, he ran past a confused Trent who had his books spread out on the worn rug in the living room and into the kitchen.

"I'm just sick of soup and pasta, Blaine! Can't we have something good, like a hamburgers or meatloaf? Something?" Sebastian whined as he leaned against the counter and shamelessly ogled Blaine's butt. The curly headed boy had taken his blazer off as well and rolled his shirt sleeves up as he dug through their meager pots and pans to find their slightly dented soup pot. If he was aware of Sebastian's leers, it didn't show as he ventured even deeper into the cabinet. It was obvious that Sebastian liked Blaine, but then Blaine was pretty oblivious most of the time. Jeff just didn't think he was that oblivious.

"Seb, I don't know what to tell you. Broccoli cheddar soup is what's on the menu. If you don't like it, you need to suggest something else when we hold the budget meeting. Or better yet," he grunted as he finally was successful in dragging out the soup pot. "Contribute more money to the meal fund and we can have something more expensive."

"Um, guys..."

"But Blaine," Sebastian continued as if Jeff hadn't spoken. "I told you what I needed to buy and I thought you would enjoy the use of some condoms as well." He pouted prettily as he drug his finger down Blaine's arm. Blaine looked uncomfortable at the attention, but he just scooted away without commenting. Sebastian seemed disappointed for a moment, but soon resumed his haughty demeanor.

"Guys..." Jeff tried again. He sounded loud to his own ears, but the others always said he was too quiet.

"You know, you could actually help me make dinner instead of just flirting with me." Blaine sassed. Well. Maybe he wasn't quite as oblivious as they all thought.

"I don't do physical labor." Sebastian retorted, a lustful glint in his eye. "Unless it's sex. That I would love to help you with."

"GUYS THERE'S A BOY IN BLAINE'S BED AND I THINK HE MIGHT BE A SERIAL KILLER!" Jeff shouted before clapping his hands over his own mouth. Blaine and Sebastian just stared at him open-mouthed as the oven beeped behind them.

"There's a... I'm sorry, what?" Sebastian asked without any sarcasm for once. That showed how truly surprised they were. Whether it was because Jeff had yelled or what he yelled, he couldn't be sure.

"Um, I went to change and there is a boy in Blaine's bed and he looks bad." Jeff said quietly as he nervously picked at his fingers. His chocolate brown eyes were wide with fright. Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure it's just David. You know how he gets. He probably got in the wrong bed again." Sebastian said dismissively. Jeff clenched his fists just as Nick and Trent came in the kitchen to see what all the fuss was about.

"It's not David!" Jeff yelled. "I think I know what David looks like and David is in his bed and someone is sleeping in Blaine's bed and he looks like he was in a fight or something..." Jeff panted from saying it all in one breath as Blaine looked fearfully towards their bedroom.

"Why is the serial killer in my bed?" Blaine whispered. Nick grabbed Jeff's hand and Trent grabbed Nick's as Blaine swallowed heavily and stepped towards the shared bedroom.

Sebastian seemed to have recovered from his shock and pushed past all of them to stomp that way. "Move you big babies! I'm sure it's nothing! Jeff is probably just seeing things and-" He stopped abruptly, almost causing the other boys to run into him.

There, whimpering a little in his sleep, was a bloodied and dirt-covered boy snuggled under Blaine's covers and sleeping soundly. No one said anything for almost a full minute, as they were just trying to comprehend the fact that a stranger was in their house, sleeping in one of their beds and no one knew who he was. Trent looked around the room and counted everyone on his fingers before ducking behind Jeff, who was hiding behind Nick. Sebastian just stared at the boy as if he couldn't believe his own eyes.

At first, Blaine was kind of mad that some guy had broken into their house and gotten in his bed all dirty and gross. He had just washed his sheets for goodness sakes! This guy had better not have gotten anything on his pictures either because they were pretty much irreplaceable. But one look at the boy's face (and that was exactly what he was, a boy) and Blaine felt his heart skip a beat. He was beautiful! He had soft-looking chestnut hair, graceful cheekbones that sweeping eyelashes rested over and an adorably pointed nose. Even under all the cuts and bruises, the boy was gorgeous. Oh! He was hurt! Blaine winced at the bloody, swollen wound on his forehead and felt like crying. What had happened to this poor angel? Just like that, his anger and disgust deflated and he knelt down in front of his bed. The others sucked in a breath as Blaine traced the line of the boy's red lips and wondered what it would be like to kiss him. He blushed at the thought, chastising himself for the way he was thinking of this poor, broken boy who obviously needed medical attention. Sebastian noted the way Blaine's fingers were ghosting over the stranger's face with shrewd disapproval. He was about to say something rather crude and nasty when Nick suddenly sneezed loudly causing everyone to jump.

"Fuck, Nick! You scared the shit out of me!" Sebastian hissed with a hand over his heart.

"He's waking up!" Trent squeaked as he clutched Jeff's arm tighter.

The boy's eyes fluttered open and Blaine was struck at how blue they were. Or maybe green? Whatever color they were, they were lovely.

Songs used:

Mr. Blue Sky- Electric Light Orchestra

Hey, Soul Sister- Train

*we do not own any music used/mentioned*

So, what did you think? Do you love it or hate it? Feel free to leave a review and let us know! See you next week! -A