When the two of them had finally had enough of breathing the other's air, Kurt reached down and took Blaine's hand in his. "Will you come home with me? My mom—well, my step-mom, really—is a nurse, and I want her to check your face and make sure nothing is broken instead of bruised."

"I don't know… I mean, I—"

"Please?" Kurt begged. "For me? If you don't come, I'm going to spend the rest of my evening worried about you."

"Why?"

"Because I care about you." Another word danced at the tip of his tongue, though it couldn't come out. Not yet. It was too soon.

Blaine was silent for a moment. Then, he whispered, "Okay."

Kurt had to contain himself. He wanted nothing more than to hop up and down and pump his fist. Instead, he simply turned so he was standing next to Blaine, still holding his hand. He reached out and collected the other boy's jacket from the back of the chair, and tossed it over his arm to carry.

"I can carry my own jacket, you know."

With a quick kiss to his cheek, Kurt answered, "I know. I want to carry it for you." I want to take care of you.

Blaine didn't protest further, and the two of them walked out of the door nearest the weight room and to Kurt's car. Without saying a word, Kurt opened the passenger door for Blaine, letting him slide in and put on his seatbelt before covering his lap with the jacket he was carrying. Then, he went around and got in on the other side, giving Blaine a confident smile and holding out his hand for him once he, too, was buckled in.

"Kurt, I… I don't understand why you're being so nice to me," Blaine said. "You barely know me, and you're already treating me better than half the teachers and, like, all the kids at this school."

"Well… I like you." Love you. "I already told you that I've wanted you from the moment that we first met, and I've been chasing you ever since. There's something about you, Blaine, that's been caught in my soul from the very beginning, telling me not to let you go. I don't care about what others think of you. I just care about you."

Blaine sniffled, trying not to cry right there in Kurt's car. He didn't have the words to explain to him how he felt, what he hadn't been able to put into his blog that day after their first meeting. He'd just had this feeling of needing Kurt in his life, yet the thought of needing someone else the way it felt in his heart scared him to no end. He'd never been dependent on anyone besides his parents, and he wasn't sure he could handle such a deep attachment. Yet, he couldn't ignore the way the universe seemed to be speaking to him, directing him to be a part of Kurt's life. "So, does that mean you want to be… together? Boyfriends?"

"Do you want to be?" Kurt asked. "I had thought we could wait for a while, get to know each other before we start putting labels on what we are to each other, even though I want you so badly to be mine. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable or give people a reason to comment on our relationship."

"People would comment? Why would they comment?"

"I'm kinda… Well, not kind of. I am part of the jocks. In a way. I'm the starting QB for McKinley, and everybody knows it. They gossip about me a lot, actually, which is whatever. It doesn't bother me. I know, though, that it was hard at first, and if it bothers you, I comple—"

"Of course. I went and fell for the jock."

"What does that mean?"

"I mean that that's what got me in trouble at Dalton. My bully? The guy that beat me up today? His friends? Jocks. Football players." His fingers curled into fists, his nails digging into his palms as he ground out, "He's why I box. All he wanted to do was order me around, and when I finally had enough and broke up with him, that's when he attacked me. What choice did I have but to fight back? He was drunk, and I was able to win. It didn't matter, though. They still expelled me."

Kurt's eyes were growing misty, and he was glad they were so close to home. Otherwise, he would have to pull over and wait until he could see. "I'm so sorry that happened to you," he said breathily. "No one should ever treat you like that. Even when we're together, you're still your own person. I'm not going to tell you what to do or force you to do anything."

"You ordered me around in the weight room," Blaine said, a tone that wasn't quite bitterness in his words. A little voice in the back of his head said, You needed it. You wanted it.

"If it bothers you, I won't ever do that again," Kurt told him. "And I want you to know that if you hadn't stopped, I wouldn't have chased you, tried to hold you down, or get you to stay with me against your will. You are your own person, Blaine, and if you don't want to be around me, I'm not going to make you. I never want you to feel forced into anything."

"I didn't. I don't. I want to be with you, and I…" He stopped, trying to gather his thoughts and find the words to tell Kurt what he didn't yet understand. After a few moments of struggling, he sighed. "I don't have the words to tell you what I want to say."

"That's okay," Kurt said as he pulled into his driveway. "You can take your time. I'll listen for as long as you need me to."

There was a long pause, and Kurt wasn't sure if Blaine was ever going to start talking again. He fidgeted a bit in his seat, hoping that no one would come out of the house to find out what was taking him so long.

Finally, Blaine said, "I'm sorry. This is all confusing for me, and I'm trying to figure it out. I'm not very good at it, though, and what I'm going to say isn't going to make a lot of sense." He paused and cleared his throat. "Um, I shouldn't have gotten mad at you for telling me to stop in the locker room earlier. The truth is that, well, that I liked it, that I felt like I needed you to tell me to stop. Because if I had left, I would have been mad at myself for not staying. I know that I shouldn't like that. After...him...I should hate someone telling me what to do. With you, though, it's just different. I know that you actually… I can feel that you really… You care, and I could feel it when you said, 'Stop.' With him, it always seemed like he hated me, like he didn't care about me and just wanted me to listen to him for fun so that he could control me. You care."

Turning in his seat so he was facing Blaine, Kurt took both his hands in his and waited for him to look at him before he said, "I do care. I care about you a lot, and I wanted to make sure you were okay. That was why I told you to stop. I meant what I said before, Blaine. I never want you to feel like you have to stay with me. I want you to feel safe with me."

"I do."

"Good." Kurt leaned over and kissed his cheek softly. "I want you to know that you can talk to me about this any time you want. You can talk to me about anything, really. I want us to be open and honest and talking about everything so that we can feel comfortable together. Okay?"

Blaine gave him a small smile. "Are you actually real?"

"As real as they get," Kurt replied. "Now, are you ready to go inside? My mom can look you over and then we can hang out for a bit if you want to? Watch a movie?"

"Sure," Blaine replied.

Before they could get out of the car, Kurt asked, "When do your parents get home?"

"Tomorrow. Coop's going to school at Georgetown University in D.C. to be a doctor, and that's a full eight hour drive from here. And they can't even move him in until tomorrow morning, so it will be late."

Kurt made a mental note to ask his dad if Blaine could spend the night and then said, "Well, I want to drive you home when you go."

"Okay," Blaine whispered.

When they got out of the car and headed up to the front door, Finn came out to meet them. "Where's your letterman jacket, dude? And who's—Oh…" He just stared at Blaine.

Kurt gave him a quick kick to the shin and ground out, "Be polite." Then, he put a smile on his face and pulled Blaine closer to him. "This is Blaine. He's going to hang out with me for a while. Where's Mom?"

"Uh, kitchen," Finn said, pointing behind him. "What happened to—" He received another kick to the shins and promptly shut his mouth.

"Thanks," Kurt said, guiding Blaine inside and to the kitchen. "Hey," he greeted Carole, who was standing at the counter, putting the finishing touches on two homemade pizzas.

She glanced up at Kurt. "Hey." Then, she did a double-take. "Oh, I didn't know you were having anyone over. Who's this?" she asked, placing both hands on the countertop.

"This is Blaine. We just met, and we're already pretty amazing friends." He glanced at Blaine to make sure he was okay with what he'd said, relieved to find him smiling. "I was wondering if you'd be able to take a look at his face, make sure he's not going to have more than a few bruises. He got beaten up earlier."

"Oh, my gosh! Of course. I'll take a look. Just let me slide these into the oven and grab my first aid kit. You can take a seat at the table, honey," she said, going immediately into nurse mode. Kurt loved that about her.

Following his lead, Blaine allowed Kurt to lead him to the table and pull out a chair for him. "Thanks for calling me your friend until we work out who we are to each other," Blaine whispered to him while he waited for Carole to come back.

Kurt just nodded, stepping to just behind Blaine and keeping a hand on one of his shoulders as Carole came to the table.

She did a quick examination of his face as well as checked to be sure he didn't have a concussion. She complimented Kurt for putting arnica gel on his bruises and reminded Blaine to keep the small cut by his lip cleaned and disinfected. "I'm so glad you weren't hurt. Our heads can be so easily damaged."

Blaine nodded, swallowing hard since he wasn't sure what to say. Thankfully, Kurt stepped in for him.

"Thanks for checking him out, Mom. We're gonna go up to my room and watch TV. When will Dad be home?"

"Pretty soon. Pizzas will be done soon, too, so don't put on a movie."

"Okay," Kurt agreed, taking Blaine's hand again and leading him up to his bedroom. They made themselves comfortable on Kurt's large bed, snuggling up under the blankets with Blaine's head tucked against Kurt's chest. He fit perfectly there, and it made Kurt smile to consider the possibility of this happening more often. He was pretty sure he didn't ever want to be away from Blaine. "Do you care what we watch?" he asked, turning on the TV.

"Not really. I'm good with whatever."

"How about… Can I tell you something kinda embarrassing?"

Blaine sat up a little bit more. "Sure."

"I love home makeover shows. Would you care if we watch This Old House or something?"

"Not at all," Blaine replied, chuckling to himself as he slid down under the covers further. "I watch those shows all the time when I'm home alone."

"I like to comment about people's taste. Most of the time, it's horrible," Kurt shared.

"Agreed."

About 10 minutes into the show, Blaine was sound asleep. And another five minutes after that, there was a soft knock at Kurt's partially closed door.

Getting out from underneath a warm, snuggly, sleeping Blaine was one of the hardest things Kurt had ever done. He wanted nothing more than to stay and enjoy a warm bed and Blaine's soft curls against his face. He climbed out anyway and went to answer his door.

Burt was standing there. "Pizza's ready, kid." He looked behind him then, scanning the room. "Carole says you have a boy up here?"

Kurt nodded. "Yeah. I promise we weren't being inappropriate or anything. He just… Well, it's a complicated story. Do we have time?"

"Sure," Burt said with a nod. "You know I've always got time for you kids."

"So, Finn and I saw Blaine in the weight room before Christmas, and I had this weird feeling in my soul then that I needed to spend time with him. He wouldn't talk to me for the longest time, probably because he was afraid. He went to Dalton before it closed, and nobody at McKinley has been very nice to him since he transferred. Anyway, when I went to get my jacket from school—which I forgot there, by the way—he was there, and he had blood on his face." Kurt shifted, leaning heavier on the door jam so he could talk to his dad. "He got beat up today, Dad, by his old Dalton bullies, and I just knew I had to help him. His parents aren't home; they're in D.C., moving his brother into Georgetown, and he's alone. I, uh, I can't explain it. I just know he needs me. And I need him."

Burt raised an eyebrow at his son and didn't say anything. He knew Kurt wasn't done yet. There was more.

"I don't know what it is, Dad. I think I love him already. I mean, that sounds crazy. I've only known he existed for a few months, only talked to him today. There's just something going on inside my chest when I look at him. I feel like I don't ever want to let him go, like I need to protect him with all that I have and make sure he never gets beat up again. I want to spend my life with him, and I know I'm only 16. It doesn't make sense, yet it's how I feel. I… I really do love him, Dad. Like, a lot. He's… He's mine."

Reaching out a hand, Burt rested it warmly on his son's shoulder, giving him a gentle pat. "Trust your gut, kid. Sometimes, when you know, you just know. I felt that way about your mom, and I felt that way about Carole, too. I think we Hummel men just have that instinct, and I'm not going to tell you not to follow it, okay?"

Kurt blushed just a little. "Okay."

"He's staying for supper, right? When do his parents get back? Does he need to spend the night, too?"

"Can he?" Kurt asked. "They won't be home until tomorrow, and I had Carole check him over. I'm worried, though, Dad. I don't want him to be alone."

"He can stay. Not in your bed with you, but he can stay," Burt agreed. "Now, wake him up. We need to eat so we can get to that drive-in movie and get a decent parking spot. And yes. Before you ask, he can come, too."

"You're the best." Kurt reached out and pulled his dad into a hug. "Thank you for understanding."

Burt didn't reply, just gave his son a quick kiss on the cheek before heading back down the stairs. He called over his shoulder, "Pizza in five, Finn!"

A muffled, "Yes!" came from Finn's room, and a moment later, Finn's door flung open. He raced down the stairs at top speed, taking them two at a time, yelling, "I call first dibs on the pepperoni!"

Kurt went back to his room to wake Blaine, and when he got to the bed, he found that he was already laying there with his eyes open, awake and staring at Kurt with a funny expression on his face. "Hey. You okay?"

"You...love me?"

"You heard that?"

Blaine just nodded.

Kurt sat down on the edge of the bed with a sigh. "Yeah. I do. I didn't want to tell you yet because I was afraid it would scare you away. I do, though. That thought won't leave me alone, and I feel really strongly about you, Blaine, stronger than I've felt about anyone. Ever. I know we don't want to put labels on it yet, bu—"

"I want to put a label on us," Blaine interrupted. "I'm not afraid because, well, because I feel the same way about you."

"You do?"

Blaine nodded again. "So, can we just call us what we are? Boyfriends?"

"I'd love that. More than anything. Blaine, I really, really do love you."

"I love you, too."

The two boys shared a gentle kiss, hands on cheeks, lips working against lips as they tried to memorize each other's mouths with their one moment. The mood was interrupted by Finn yelling up the stairs.

"If you don't get down here, I'm gonna finish the pepperoni!"

Kurt giggled. "Guess that's our cue. You like pepperoni or sausage pizza? We're having that before the drive-in movie at the city park tonight. Maybe we can, um, call that our first date?" His cheeks blushed a bright pink as he asked.

Blaine's did, too, as he replied, "I'd like that. Very much."