Symphony

by LeBelle

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

13. Chapter 13

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Chapter 13

And when you're gone, I feel incomplete

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AN: I've been remiss with this story's updates, so here's a really long one.

Blaine and Kurt called each other every day the first week school started at Dalton, McKinley waited another week before going back into session, wanting to wait until after Labor Day rather than start on the 1st of the month. Another reason that it annoyed Blaine that they had such an early cut off date but they braved it and truthfully it was easier on both that Blaine went back to school prior to Kurt, Blaine's school was safer and he could settle into a routine there without having to worry every minute about Kurt.

The day prior to school starting, Blaine had been at Kurt's house and they had laid on the floor of the basement and propped up against pillows and 'Blaine's bed' and Kurt had sung to him Never Be Alone by Shawn Mendes. It was touching and Blaine had soaked it in while Kurt ran his fingers through his hair. Blaine's head was in Kurt's lap on a pillow and his eyes were closed as he listened. It fit their situation so well and it would probably become a song that they shared far too often from now on until they could be together once more in New York after Blaine graduated.

"How's the roommate?" Kurt asked.

"He's not you." Blaine was not used to having to share his space with another boy, especially one that wasn't Kurt and in his bed. It seemed weird to look over and see totally unrelated posters and boy stuff. "And I'm now on the other side of the room." It was just odd and it put Blaine in a different state and he was unsettled. The second he'd moved in, Freshman year he always had the bed closest to the door, it had made him feel more secure. Two years and now he was regulated to another spot, his dreams weren't as easily controlled when he didn't have his familiar surroundings or favorite comfort blanket with his (Kurt).

Kurt smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure he'd be willing to switch if you asked."

"No luck, he doesn't seem the type to give up anything he wants. He's already badgering the Warblers to start auditions earlier than normal and to consider him for a solo part. He's good but he doesn't have the vocal range. He's a tenor."

"Not a counter-tenor?" Kurt asked silkily.

"Definitely not, he doesn't have the same dreamy voice you do." Blaine didn't say what Kurt knew he was thinking, he hadn't brought that word up again. Kurt knew Blaine would have said he doesn't have the voice of an angel like you do.

Kurt sighed, it was always going to be hard for him to share a space, even if Kurt went to school with him still, if he had his own dorm room, they'd both be sharing with someone right now and wouldn't be able to be together like they wanted to be. "We can't all be baritones and hit lower notes and higher notes and have the range like you." He was trying to tease Blaine but Blaine was a very cranky boy today. "What's really wrong?"

"I don't know. He's got shark teeth." Blaine's words made Kurt crack up.

"They're sharp and pointy?" Kurt had likened someone else to having a shark-like smile but never commented on teeth alone before.

"If you're just going to make fun of me, then I'm not interested in talking to you either." Blaine grumbled and Kurt quickly backtracked and apologized, he didn't want to end the call already.

"Blaine, be honest."

"I'm so damn hard." He groaned out. "And I can't do anything about it now that I'm sharing my space with someone else. Before I would just keep you firmly in my mind and take care of it whenever I needed to." He looked at Kurt. "And before you go down any path that's not flattering, you know I'm only ever hard because of you."

"Wasn't that why you taught me about cold showers?" Kurt offered helpfully and the screen turned blank and he sighed and flopped over onto his back. Blaine really was cranky if he couldn't handle Kurt teasing him. He sent Blaine a quick text with an apology, an I love you and a sloth hugging a bunny with hearts coming from both of them. It was stupid but it got the response he wanted, an I love you back and a smiley face.

Neither called the other back but they weren't upset with the other one at all and Kurt slept easily.

Over the weekend, Blaine was on his doorstep and pulled Kurt out of the house and went around to a side of the house that nobody inside would be able to look out of and see them. Blaine crushed his mouth against Kurt's and they didn't do any touching or rubbing against each other but their mouths fulfilled any desires they might have had or questions about each other's feelings on the matter of their separation from each other's mouths.

They were probably in view of complete strangers but neither cared. Finn came out and hosed them down. "Finn!" Kurt protested.

"Hey, he was mauling at my brother, you two needed to cool off a little." Finn answered cheekily and didn't seem apologetic at all.

"Let me remind you of that the next time you're hot and heavy with Rachel." Kurt promised with a threat in his voice and Finn smiled cheekily but there was some worry there too, Kurt didn't make threats idly. Neither of those two boys did.

"Would an apology make any difference?" Finn asked belatedly and Kurt shook his head no. "Ok, then I won't apologize." He ran off on that note and called Rachel to tell her that their make-out sessions would have to be only at her house from now on. She laughed and didn't argue or ask why, already having a pretty good idea why.

Blaine looked over his soaked boyfriend and went back in for another kiss, this time he didn't hold back on touching him, they already now needed to shower and clean up and take care of their ruined appearance anyway, might as well have a really good reason for doing so. Finn's joke actually backfired in it's intention, they clung and grasped at each other more now that they were wet. Blaine finally got the relief he'd been needing for a week. He panted hard into Kurt's neck as he too was having trouble holding himself up after also releasing his own tension.

"Shower?" Blaine asked and Kurt shook his head, Blaine was disappointed.

"We need to go into our own separate ones. Dad's home." Kurt knew he would have the hardest time sneaking passed his dad in his state, Blaine just mildly easier.

"I'm pretty sure that he knows we have done more than kiss in the past." Burt had asked him straight out if they'd used protection. Blaine had looked him straight in the face and lied his ass off when he said he had no idea what Burt was referencing. 'Just be safe', was all Burt had responded back with, giving an approving nod that as in equal parts annoyance and respect to the answer from Blaine, not letting anything real slip. They hadn't been, Wes had suggested the same thing but they were only with each other and they'd both gotten tested since that camping trip, a couple of times, just to be sure they weren't passing anything they hadn't meant to, to the other person. Things could still be transmitted through blood transfusions and they'd both had those after their individual run ins and if any of the boys had blood or sweat or spit drip into an open wound, they still could have gotten something. Thankfully they were both clean.

They hadn't thought about condoms then, even though Wes had said something because they hadn't gone to the point where it would make as much of a difference, they weren't causing any micro cuts at that point and they didn't have any open wounds that genetic material could get in. The time in the shower, Blaine should have said something but he hadn't been thinking beyond the situation at hand at the time. Later, he'd realized what they'd done and what could have happened. He doubted that Kurt would ever be with anyone else but if it ever got to the point, he needed to be protected and protect the person he was with. He'd have to bring it up with Kurt in the future. Truthfully they should have used condoms for oral too. But if they were really pushing it, any time they kissed there should have been a barrier. Since they were only with each other and likely to only be with each other, they were a little bit more lenient with that, especially as neither could get pregnant.

For now he was just glad to be back in his presence. He could relax again.

The weekend was too fast, it was over before it felt like it began and he had to part and leave Kurt's side and this time, both of them would be back in school. "Call me at lunch time." He made Kurt promise. "And text me every hour."

"Blaine, it's going to be fine." Kurt still promised to do so, he would have anyway between classes or maybe during it if he was exceptionally bored.

Except... Kurt closed his locker, it was in a different spot now, between Finn and Pucks' lockers. Sue Sylvester had taken over as principal and had ensured that Figgins would never be able to be in a position of authority in this school again. Finn and Puck hadn't gotten there yet and they'd have said something to let him know they were there without startling him. There was a presence behind him and he turned and backed into his lockers as he saw two large jocks in front of him, not Finn and Puck but Azimio and the hockey giant that had beat him up and he held his arms up in front of him, suddenly terrified to be presented with them so suddenly again. He was flashing back on the attack so hard, he was having trouble getting oxygen into his lungs.

"I thought you were in jail." Kurt squeaked.

"We were, but we got out on good behavior and no priors. We didn't even know that you two were related to the congressman." Azimio shrugged and the other boy nodded, letting the football player do the talking.

"Please don't hit me." Kurt tried to breath through his fear, but they had really hurt him and he'd been unconscious and it had taken too long to recover. He didn't want a repeat.

"Chill man." The hockey player looked around startled, afraid of what the other students would think, they just kept walking by, not giving him a single look or wanting to be witnesses.

"We're not going to hurt you. We came over to apologize. We were brainwashed by Karofsky's campaign against gays and while we still don't like how odd you are or what you stand for, we won't touch you again." Azimio crossed his arms across his chest. "Just try to turn down the weird and we won't have any problem with you anymore."

"Um-" Kurt still didn't lower his arms. "What changed?" He was done conforming though, so 'turning down the weird' was not going to happen.

"Karofsky, he went psycho and just too far." The hockey player admitted.

"We found out that he was gay too." Azimio scowled. "He was with us in the locker rooms, we would slap each other on the asses and he could see all of us. You at least waited until we all left or got in there first to get cleaned up and leave before we came in and started stripping. You at least tried to make it easier on us. He hid it from us."

"How did he just go too far?" Kurt pressed, he ignored their further gay bashing. As far as he knew Karofsky had been arrested at the same time they had been, and hadn't heard anything further. He held on to his secret tightly, Kurt had been the one to find out and share it with his family and the police but no one else.

"He just... he kept shouting how he was going to kill you and... well... nothing pleasant." Azimio turned a little bashful and looked away. "It was highly inappropriate to say or do and I wouldn't wish what he screamed after the cuffs went on him to be done to anyone. It was too much, beating someone up, I could get behind that if it meant maintaining the peace and order but that... that was just wrong."

"Oh." Kurt had some idea what they were talking about now and he was paler than usual. He wished they hadn't said as much as they had, it was worse the more they talked even though they didn't say what 'it' was. He could guess from Karofsky's earlier behavior. He felt sick and he wanted to push passed them and run to the bathroom and throw up his breakfast but the boys were blocking his path away and couldn't get through them without touching them more than he would like, more than they would. They'd had him cornered and they didn't even realize.

"Hey, everything ok here?" Mr. Schue was the one to walk over to them and looked at the other two boys. "You might want to head along now. Wouldn't want to have to talk to the parole board, they'd be interested to know that the first thing you did when Kurt came back was to go right up to him..."

They looked scared and moved off. "Thanks Mr. Schue." Kurt was feeling marginally better now that he had some more air. His hands finally lowered from in front of him, a poor defense against a attack but it was something at least to protect his face and head.

Will put his hand on Kurt's shoulder. "Doing ok?" There was a small shrug that knocked his hand off unintentionally but he preferred not being touched so didn't apologize. "They won't bother you again, they know that if they even come within 10 feet of you, they could go back to jail and that lasts as long as you're here in Ohio." He didn't give a time limit but Kurt suspected that it was for this year, maybe the next 2 if the courts actually cared about him. The Ohio limitations... well he wasn't planning on going anywhere except for competitions. He'd be protected in D.C. when his dad was there, but he didn't think that was going to happen any time soon.

"Thanks." Kurt repeated but he was still tempted to go empty his breakfast in a nearby toilet.

Finn swung around with Puck and stopped short when he took in his brother's face. "Shit, Blaine is going to kill me." There was a very real possibility of that. "You ok bro?"

Puck was a little slower on the uptake, wondering why Mr. Schue was standing so close to Kurt in the middle of the day in the hallway near their lockers. "Something happen?" Puck looked around, wondering who would dare touch Kurt now. He was going to make sure that it was the last time.

"It's- It's fine." Kurt shook himself out, telling his stomach that it was ok and to settle down and shut up, he hadn't been touched and they were just trying to apologize; not that he'd forgive them. It was totally out of line, even if they had been brainwashed. They were 3 big guys pulling him out of his car to beat him up. He wasn't a threat to one of them, much less 3. And the things they said – he turned green and his stomach rolled and he pushed passed both of these boys, not minding touching them and running to the closest bathroom and releasing the content of his stomach.

Finn skidded to a halt behind him and he was too big to try and get in there with the slightly taller than average boy, even if he was so scrawny. He still managed to put a hand on Kurt's back with his massive reach. "What happened?" Mr. Schue had been less than helpful, just said the other two boys were crowding Kurt and he didn't look good and they'd walked off. He hadn't heard their conversation, just the tail end of it where Kurt looked trapped and he wanted to be of some help for a change. He actually had something he could do there. Nobody blamed Will though, he was not much bigger than Kurt and had been a glee kid himself and so had no need to learn to defend himself because at the time it was a popular activity but didn't exactly bring in the tough guys but he'd been left alone for the most part.

He had confidence and smarts but not the ability to fight physically or really all that dirty. He'd been brought up with a justice system that hadn't failed him.

Kurt sat back on his heels, Finn was able to sling an arm around him then and Kurt wiped at his mouth, wondering if that was all he was going to lose or if he'd go through another round. "They were trying to apologize." Finn snorted, on the same page as Kurt on that, and Kurt was glad to hear it, knowing that'd be Finn's reaction all along but it was nice to hear his reaction. He wouldn't be forgiving the other boys any time soon either, if ever. "They said some things about Karofsky, which in a round about way was meant to hurt me but it was what they said about what he wanted to do with me that had made it worse and they had me boxed in and while they didn't think they were a threat, I still felt like they were." No, he was ok now, he decided, he'd managed to say that and not feel his stomach heave again. So he flushed the contents of the bowl and let Finn help him stand on shaky legs.

"Karofsky is in jail and is not getting out for a long time." Finn reassured with both hands on Kurt's shoulders. "Do you want me to call Blaine or dad?"

"No!" Kurt didn't want to worry either of them, he was sure his phone was already blowing up with messages from Blaine. This would just worry him unnecessarily and he'd likely do something stupid and pointless like come from Dalton to be there with Kurt physically. Even though he couldn't do anything and it was all hypothetical anyway since Karofsky was in jail and couldn't do anything he likely threatened. Not that Kurt actually knew what he threatened exactly. The other boys had been put in their place and wouldn't come near him again.

"What do you want to do then?" Finn held Kurt steady, unsure if Kurt was making sane decisions right now. He'd hidden so much from all of them for so long and this was just similar behavior in his mind.

"I want to clean my mouth out and then text my boyfriend. I'm not going to tell him about this until I see him in person next, I want my healthy appearance and smiling face to reassure him that I'm ok. We both need to get used to our new reality and not run off to each other's side every second."

"I don't like you keeping this secret from him." Finn said but respecting his brother's decision. "You're going to tell dad tonight though."

"It's really nothing, Finn; but ok." Kurt gave in and Finn gave him a loose armed hug so he didn't squeeze Kurt too tightly but it was nice to get a hug from his brother regardless. Then Finn let Kurt go to clean up but was within reach if he looked unsteady or collapsed. Kurt made it to the sink all on his own.

"I'll be just outside, ok?" Finn held his gaze again in the mirror and Kurt shook his head. "Go to class, I'm going to head there myself." He started his day with French and he was already running late.

Finn's phone pealed off while Kurt brushed his teeth. "Blaine." Finn said by way of greeting. "No, he's fine, just breakfast didn't settle with him right. I'm sure he'll be texting you as soon as he can." Finn groaned in annoyance. "Really Blaine, just call him yourself if you're that concerned!" He hung up on the curly haired brunette. "He's a real handful and I can't believe I just lied to him. He's kind of scary when angry."

"You have no idea." Kurt mumbled and rinsed his mouth out and answered the call on the second ring. "Blaine!" Kurt put some cheer into his voice and he was glad to talk to him too, already missing him and wanting to hear his voice, despite what he'd said to Finn. "No, just nerves probably, I'm fine now." He listened for a minute and shared a look with Finn and mouthed 'go to class'. Finn rolled his eyes and jerked his thumb toward the door and pointed to himself. Finn wasn't going until he was sure Kurt was ok and safely tucked into his classroom. "Honestly, I'm good, believe me." Kurt sighed. "Yes of course I'll still call you and text you like I promised. Talk to you later, have a good day!" He hung up the phone and got an instant text message right after. I'm on to you. Blaine wrote but it wasn't spooky, just telling Kurt that Blaine knew there was more than that happening.

Kurt sent back a cheeky message. I'd rather you were on me.

Me too.

Kurt laughed and headed out to meet up with Finn but he wasn't alone, Puck was pacing the hall too. "Finn told me what happened. Those guys are dead, how could they be demented enough to think it was ok to tell you that?"

"Because they're bullies and dislike me and that's what bullies do." Kurt was over it, they didn't make him as nervous as Karofsky did and he didn't have to worry about him anymore. The other two guys were not going to touch him because they had more jail time hanging over their heads and people were no longer afraid to report them. Were looking for a reason to, actually. They were not going to harass him any more, or even go up to him. He didn't fear them beating him up again.

Maybe he should have, maybe they were just waiting until there wasn't a chance of a witness but Kurt would report them if they didn't kill him or make it impossible for him to report them somehow. Yet he didn't think that was their end goal. Karofsky had ended up scaring them too and any chance they could see him in prison again freaked them out.

Kurt picked up his bag from where he left it and looked through it to make sure he wasn't forgetting any thing and found it to be fine, everything was as it should be. He missed the day of just carrying his computer to and from class, now he would have to make frequent trips to his locker. It wasn't supposed to be as easy to block him in and was a lot closer to the teachers whether they were in class or on break.

Finn hovered. "I've got him, go to class Puck." Finn wanted to walk Kurt to class, spend a little more time with his brother. Besides, he had to ask him about something he'd said. Puck was well out of ear-shot when they slowly started making their way to Kurt's class. Finn's was in the opposite direction but it was just history with Mr. Schue and he was already aware of the situation. "Does Blaine ever scare you?"

Kurt's eyes were huge when he turned to look at Finn, he came to a complete halt and shook his head. "No way!" He stared at Finn in shock. "Why would you even think that?"

"You said I had no idea how scary Blaine could be." He responded honestly and looked at his shoes for a second before looking at Kurt again. "I don't want you to be going from one scary situation to another and I want to make sure you're not hiding something else from us. I want to make sure you're safe and ok."

"Oh, Finn." Kurt's eyes were soft and warm and he shook his head. "No, Blaine doesn't scare me, he's the sweetest, gentlest guy with me and he would never, ever raise a finger against me. I just meant that anyone who wanted to hurt me would have to have their head on a swivel because he can be scary in his protection of me. He knows when it's a tease vs something serious and he reacts accordingly. Thank you for caring so much, but Blaine's one of the good ones."

"I thought so, but it wouldn't be the first time where we thought one thing about someone and they were secretly something else." Finn rubbed the back of his neck. "You spend a lot of time with him in relative privacy and away from family, it's a breeding ground for secrets and I just needed to make sure. You'd tell us if something was off with him, right?"

"I would." Kurt wasn't a victim too scared to tell anyone anything anymore. He would never go back to that Kurt, he was stronger now. "I think you'd know if something were up too, now."

Finn nodded, he'd see the signs now that he was actually looking at Kurt and was more aware of the dangers that could befall him. He hadn't known before, hadn't wanted to see truthfully, too wrapped up in himself but now Kurt was his little brother and he'd always be looking out for him. "Well, here's your class. Have fun."

Kurt thanked Finn and headed in. He was practically fluent now and he chatted in French to his fellow classmates but they sputtered and stopped and weren't much help but he kept talking, helping them along and improving his own by teaching them. He was in as advanced of a level as he could be in this school and sometimes he tried chatting with the teacher but their French was fairly limited to what they taught. In this class, he missed Dalton's regiment.

Kurt was in his second class of the day, he'd texted Blaine like he'd been requested and was flipping through the math assignments in his text book, he'd already done all of this and was wondering if he could request to go up a level. Then he found a grimy letter in it, stuffed in the general vicinity of where his first lesson would have been. He wondered if it was left over from the previous owner but he flipped it over to the front and saw that it was addressed to him.

While his initial thought was that Blaine was being extra sweet and romantic, he knew Blaine would have used only clean paper and he hadn't had his text books last night or this morning until school started, so there was no way. He used his pencil to open it and slide the letter out and used another one to help straighten it and lay it flat so he could read what it had to say. The first word sent ice cold water straight to his heart, he knew before he even read the rest of it. He forced himself to anyway, he had to know what it had to say, he didn't know why he tortured himself with it though. He could have just taken it straight away to the principal. Because he had to know, that's why and the short two sentences were already in his brain, read before he could even think about what he should do, taking it in quickly and without intention and he wished he never read it.

Baby,

I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am that things turned out this way. I assure you, if I ever see you again, I will make things good again.

- D.K

Kurt scrambled to his feet and knocked the book over in his haste and the letter. He climbed onto his chair and probably looked like a psycho himself, or that he'd just seen a rat or something. He was breathing hard, how had that even gotten into his book? He looked around the room totally freaked out and as if he was going to be attacked now too.

"Sit back down, Mr. Hummel, this isn't the time to be breaking out into song." The math teacher was not pleased by his outburst and looked incredibly bored and not at all sympathetic to what happened to him last year. Kurt wasn't singing, he wasn't even sure if he could talk and he definitely wasn't getting up there to become center of attention, he didn't want to be an easy target, but he also couldn't be near that paper. When he didn't move, the teacher let out an exasperated breath of air. "What's the matter, Mr. Hummel?"

"There's – there's a letter."

The class snickered and snorted at his response and he knew it sounded crazy but the teacher looked at him with a frown, looking marginally kinder. "Let's take the matter up with the principal." The teacher opened the door to the classroom and beckoned Kurt to come. Reluctantly he got down and walked to the principal's office to talk to Sue.

Sue brought in a few of the teachers that would be on Kurt's side to look for the letter and found the textbook but no letter. "And here I wore my gloves and brought a ziplock bag for nothing." She sighed. "Bring him in." Kurt reluctantly came in. "We haven't found a letter or envelop. Are you sure it was here?" They'd searched the whole room, acting like it had been a bomb and not a letter or at least a letter with SARS on it or something.

"I know it was, I didn't touch it, I wanted nothing to do with it the second I saw it." Kurt was breathing shakily. "I don't know when it got into my book, I just got them today but it was in the area of the first lesson plan." He wiped angrily at the tear that threatened to come down his cheek.

"I believe you, but unfortunately it's not here." Sue lifted up the book and handed it to Miss Pillsbury to clean, just encase there was something else on it or in it. She took her gloves off and hugged him. He didn't pull away, needing it at the moment, even if it was from Sue Sylvester. "Hey." She said after a minute and Kurt looked up at her, calmer now. "You're not in your Cheerios uniform, I expect you to wear it starting tomorrow, soldier."

"But I'm not in Cheerios." He also didn't want to wear another uniform, it's part of why he didn't want to stay at Dalton.

"You are if I say you are." Sue countered and Kurt shook his head no, he didn't want to be forced into anything anymore. "You can wear it just at practices and competitions then."

Kurt sighed, that would be fine, he supposed. "Ok."

The book would be returned to him, scrubbed clean and looking better than if it were new. He was late texting Blaine for the 3rd period class and he groaned when he felt his phone buzz. He sent back some lie about how he was talking with Tina and hadn't had time to text him yet. Blaine's text back was less than reassured by that lie. He was just finishing up with Sue and heading to class by the time he exchanged texts with Blaine.

"Please, nothing more today." He asked the universe and it listened to him. At lunch, he decided to call Blaine first and then sit with Mercedes and Tina while they ate. He didn't share his lunch period with everyone, they had 3 separate lunches and it could change per semester, or even on the class structure, with special permission.

He called Blaine prior to getting his food. He sent the girls a wave and a one second finger while he went through the lunch options, having a hard time finding something he wanted to eat. Blaine answered on the first ring. "Hey." He greeted with his low sexy voice and Kurt's toes curled in his shoes.

"Hey back." He tried to match the steaminess while in the middle of a bunch of students who didn't want to think about that side of his life.

"I've missed you this morning."

"We talked like three times today already." Kurt teased, one had been impromptu and not expected but necessary and he was glad Blaine called him actually.

"I know, I still miss you." Blaine knew how to make him feel good and he needed to hear that after the morning he'd had.

"I miss you too. It's just not the same not chatting with you like we used to between classes. Holding your hand as we walked down the hallway." He got a disgusted look by some random girl and he sent her a face back, tired of it and not putting up with it anymore. He thought they all made their points last year at prom. Honestly he could be talking about much worse. Then again, that was mostly just the Junior class and a few others who attended. He groaned internally, he had 3 years under him now that weren't there and were all still going to glare at him and not understand what he and Blaine had been saying or saw it or heard it. However, by now he thought the videos would have gotten around the entire student body.

"You ok? You sound distracted." Blaine's smooth voice curled around him and he was able to block out the people of the world like her again.

"Yeah, just trying to decide on some food that's not likely to kill me in 20 years, not too many options here." Kurt wasn't joking, there was deep fried everything; greasy cheese that looked like it was more oil than milk or potentially plastic; way too many saturated fats and overly processed everything. He wasn't even sure about the quality of the fruit. The fruit that was already cut up may have been from days ago and he wasn't sure how they kept so well. The apples they had were genetically modified to remove all nutritional value. "I think I'm going to have to start bringing my own lunch." He hadn't before, but they at least at that time had salad options and he hadn't known there was a difference between one banana and another. Apples he knew about, yes, but not bananas. Now he knew he would never eat another banana that didn't come from the Dalton cafe or at least the same source.

"Kurt, you have to east something today. Just pick something that at least looks yummy and just know that one bad food item is not going to kill you with all the other healthy choices you've put in your body."

"You say that..." Kurt sighed, knowing Blaine was right in a way, but so was he, the choices he made today would matter in 30 years. "Nothing looks yummy either." He was seriously contemplating skipping food today, he wasn't sure if his stomach felt good enough to keep it down anyway. Then he remembered Tina and Mercedes would dump their food on his plate if he tried that and would watch him until he ate it all. By now it must have gotten around that he had thrown up his breakfast and so they'd be extra watchful on his food intake. "I'll pick something out. How's it going there?"

"Good. I'm starting to get used to Sebastian. He's actually a nice guy." Something had changed while Blaine was out for the weekend, Sebastian became more tolerable or something.

Kurt's eyes narrowed, really? "Did something happen to change your mind?"

"Just seeing you, I think, put me in a much better mood to deal with the change in living situation." Blaine was all compliments and Kurt giggled and he got in line to pay for the food he managed to pick out, still not sure he wanted to eat it but at least if it was on his plate, they wouldn't push as much.

Blaine got back to his dorm an hour before school started and he came into the room to change into his uniform, he didn't even bother bringing it anymore; he always wanted to look nice for Kurt and the uniform was a nice start but he couldn't do as much in it as he'd like, especially when he was with Kurt. Sebastian had been up and had come out of the shower with a towel around his waist.

"Oh, hey." He greeted, pale green eyes lighting up at Blaine's sudden appearance, one would be forgiven for thinking they were a really light brown at times depending on lighting. "Where'd you go over the weekend?"

"To my boyfriend's house." Blaine said as he dropped his bag onto the wrong bed and then remembered it wasn't his and consciously moved over to his new spot.

"Did you want to switch?" Sebastian asked when he saw the struggle Blaine had with recalling that wasn't his bed.

"I- would it be ok?" Blaine really didn't like being in the corner.

"Yeah, sure." Sebastian shrugged. "Is it ok if we wait until this weekend to do so?"

Blaine was going to say no but there was nothing really planned with Kurt except the usual. He could maybe miss a weekend or at least part of a day, it wouldn't be the end of the world, thought this weekend was not one that he particularly wanted to miss any part of, not after the week both were bound to have. "Sure. This is really nice of you, Sebastian."

"It's fine, I haven't really gotten used to it or anything." Sebastian didn't seem to care at all about moving and Blaine wondered why he'd made such a big deal of it in his head about asking. Sebastian was actually very cool. "You could have said something when you moved in. I would have respected your preferences."

"Would you really?" Blaine's eyes lingered on Sebastian, wondering if the other boy was really ok with Blaine's sexual preferences too.

Sebastian sent Blaine a smile that was almost nearly a smirk. "Of course, I have a few of my own as well."

"Ok." Blaine turned away from Sebastian as he changed, giving the other boy privacy to also get dressed.

"Why don't you just stay with your boyfriend at his place then?" Sebastian asked casually.

"He's too far away." He let it go at that but Sebastian was curious and he kept his voice unintrusive.

"Oh? Where does he live?"

"You really want to hear about my boyfriend?" Blaine looked over his shoulder and Sebastian was fully dressed and not at all embarrassed that he was leaning against the wall and watching Blaine get dressed, they were both boys and it wasn't like there was anatomy the other didn't have. Blaine supposed he wasn't showing anything scandalizing, he wasn't taking off his boxers or anything. He took everything off in the locker room anyway before showering and he hadn't been tried to hide himself from the other boys there, and as Kurt pointed out, he had no problem showing his body off with him or the Warblers camping either. He stopped hiding and just got dressed while talking to Sebastian. Except it seemed different when there were just two of them in the closed room together, he'd only ever really done that with Kurt and his brother when they were on trips and shared a room together.

He loved talking about Kurt, everyone kept telling him to shut up about him, but he wasn't sure if Sebastian would be so open to hearing about the other boy or interested in knowing about Blaine's private life or how Kurt would feel about him talking about him to someone he didn't know, or really at all. Blaine wanted to shout it to the world all the little things he loved about the pale skinned boy.

"Yeah, we're roommates, it's ok to share everything with each other." Sebastian said with another smile, this one a bit softer than what he usually saw from the boy, less calculating, less pushy.

Blaine wasn't used to having a roommate, he never had one in the past and his friends were usually with him during the day and then they split apart in the evening and met up again sometime later. He'd never really shared a space with someone, other than as a guest, even in his parents' house he felt that way. He'd only spent a few years there with a brother but his brother was so much older and was always off doing his own thing. He wasn't sure what roommates did, Nick and Jeff were dating so it didn't count and had nothing to base it off of. And he never really had a peer as a friend, they were always older or occasionally younger if they needed someone to mentor them. He was friendly with his classmates but that's all it usually was.

"Well... what do you want to know?" He didn't know why he was so hesitant to talk about Kurt with this boy.

"You said he lives too far away to stay at his house? Is he pretty old?" He was wondering if Kurt was a sugar daddy and Blaine laughed.

"No, he's a year older, he's a Senior at McKinley High in Lima. His parents live there and it's about an hour and a half each way and while he did it last year, he had to. He won't let me do the same thing and really, I don't think his parents would appreciate it either." They never said no or made him feel like an extra ever, but he did know that it was hard to feed 3 teenage boys and deal with their drama even with the extra income coming in now, especially if Rachel or Puck decided to come over. Puck stayed the night a lot of weekends too over the summer now that he and Finn made up. He didn't encroach on Blaine's space with Kurt when Blaine was there but he knew Kurt and him hung out too when he was at work or on the weekends that his parents needed him around. Kurt came and stayed with him for a weekend when his parents were out of town mid-July but it was just a little different with all the staff running around and he hadn't asked to come over since; even though they had unfinished business and his parents' were gone often and there were awfully big showers at his house... He'd tried to entice Kurt over the week before Dalton started up again, they'd be completely left alone, he'd send the staff away and they could have the place to themselves for a few days...

Kurt had shaken his head. "Blaine, I know what you want and I do too but I don't know, it feels weird being in that house with you. I know they're cool with me and my family now, but... they're not exactly comfortable with us being together, you know? I feel like I'm breaking some taboo even kissing you in that house, much less that." He'd gone back to not being able to say the word and Blaine had sighed and ran a hand over his face, looking up at his adorable boyfriend looking down at him as they laid out on a blanket in the park under the shade of a tree. Maybe it was just because they were so public but he'd blushed a little too. Blaine was starting to wonder if Kurt had thought twice about it and didn't want to do it anymore, nor would want to do it to Blaine again either.

He'd been lost in a memory then and almost missed Sebastian's question. Had actually, and the boy had to repeat it. "Public school?" Sebastian asked surprised.

"He used to attend Dalton." Blaine defended though Sebastian hadn't sneered the word, just hadn't expected it with the rest of them being private school students, unsure how'd they even meet since those circles were pretty far away from each other. "We met through the Glee circuit." Blaine explained.

"Ah, so he's a singer?" Sebastian pressed for more information. "Was he one here?"

"Yes. He and I did duets last year at Nationals and we won first place." He didn't fault Sebastian for not knowing all that already, he had sung getting ready around the room but wasn't on the team yet and so hadn't heard all the hot buzz about last year. He was a good singer, Blaine acknowledged, he had been too harsh when talking about him with Kurt, he'd just been moody that day.

"Maybe you and I will do a few duets this year too." Sebastian leaned over to pick up his books and set them neatly on the desk and hadn't meant anything by it other than offering it as a possibility. Blaine supposed that was always in the realm of possibility, even though it wouldn't feel right to him if it was the wrong song choice.

"Maybe." Blaine knew the council would be looking for a way to recreate their win last year without Kurt being there this year. "Were you in Glee Club at your last school?"

"No, but I was in a band and choir." Sebastian put his laptop into his bag and turned to look at Blaine. "Ready to go?"

With a shrug, because he was ready, he and Sebastian walked toward their classes together. They didn't have the first one together but they did have a few they shared.

"Blaine?" Kurt's voice pulled him back to the present and Blaine couldn't help but smile hearing that soft voice that could have a substantial bite to it if pushed. He made a sound to let Kurt know he was listening. "I'm going to join the girls for lunch now. I love you."

"I love you too." Blaine supposed he had to go eat too. "Talk to you soon."

"Mmhmm." Kurt commented warmly but Blaine knew he was already losing him to his girls. They clicked off and Blaine went to the dining area and joined up with his usual crowd. Sebastian didn't join them, he was off with some of the other Warblers, they were just hanging off his every word. He must be pretty charming himself, Blaine thought with a glance over at them as the table erupted into laughter.

"Hey now, you have a boyfriend, what will he think?" Nick teased and Blaine jumped and spun toward him totally shocked by the comment.

"What?" Blaine blinked at him for a moment, sure he misunderstood.

"It was just a joke, chill." Nick held up his hands. "You were just staring at your roommate."

"I wasn't, I just was trying to get a better understanding of who he was. As you said, he's my roommate."

"Something change?" Jeff asked with his arm around Nick. "Last week you were boiling over with irritation, not wanting anything to do with him."

"He's... well I just realized he's actually a pretty nice guy."

Nick tensed a little, Jeff felt it but Blaine didn't see it or hear the sarcasm in Nick's voice. "Yeah, a nice guy."

Jeff looked down at him, wondering what Nick knew that he didn't. Nick shook his head, he didn't know what it was right now, he just had a feeling. Blaine didn't have to know his feeling though, he had to live with the guy and the smoother that process was, probably the better.

Wes joined them shortly and brought over some food for Blaine. "Oh, thanks, I totally forgot." Blaine was lost in so many thoughts today. Maybe he needed to get more sleep, he barely got sleep when he was with Kurt, even if they weren't doing anything sexual. Last night, no matter what Blaine did, Kurt had tossed and turned the whole night and made sounds of fear and remembered pain. Despite what Kurt bravely said to him yesterday, this morning or even at lunch time, Blaine was aware that it wasn't as easy as he was pretending. Apparently his stomach had confirmed it for all of them too this morning when he was barely at school and had to vomit because of the nerves. Blaine had been awake the whole night, holding Kurt and trying to soothe his fears with words, sounds and touch but it hadn't settled him.

So if Blaine was extra paranoid or oblivious or lost in thought today in equal measures, he could be forgiven.

"How is Kurt doing?" Jeff asked when silence fell at the table after Wes finished talking excitedly about something. Blaine blinked at his friends as if waking up from a day dream.

"Oh, ok I guess, he said he was ok but there was something in his voice, he said it was because he was trying to figure out what to eat but... he missed 2 check-in texts and when I talked to him after the first round, he seemed like he was trying to be reassuring but I heard through it." Blaine rubbed his arms, he wanted to be there, wanted to walk the halls with Kurt, help him settle in; but Kurt wouldn't let him. He said it was his battle and he would do it. He loved that Blaine wanted to be there for him, but he couldn't be there every day and eventually he'd have to do it on his own, might as well get it over with while he was feeling brave enough.

"He's so amazing." Nick shook his head in awe. "I'd never be able to go back and face those old demons."

"He's strong." Jeff nodded his agreement. "Stronger than any of us." He didn't mean physically and Blaine knew it too. Blaine had gotten physically stronger because he wasn't emotionally or mentally strong enough to fight his own battles; but he could fight someone else's. He wouldn't be weak again if someone decided to attack him, he'd be able to fight back but the old damage was done and the past had paralyzed him more than anything else could. The old fears, the old weaknesses. He could only go forward, not back. Except Kurt had helped him with one old personal hell and he'd survived it. He thought he might be able to do so again, that one, not the others, he wasn't strong enough to go back there.

He still didn't ride in Kurt's Escalade, always taking his Prius.

–

"Gym class next." Sam mentioned, dropping his arm around Kurt's shoulders, Kurt stiffened at the mention and a little at the touch even though it was just Sam, just anyone touching him right then would have been hard, so much had happened there in the room he'd have to be in prior to gym.

"You have the class with me?" Kurt asked in surprise, of course he would, it was a gym class and Sam liked gym classes, all of them and Sophomore year through Senior year could all share the same gym classes.

"Yep." Sam's large mouth pulled sideways making it look even bigger, it was an attempt at a smile at least. "Come on, I'll be in the locker room with you the whole time and you can put your stuff in the locker next to mine."

"Are you sure?" Kurt was sure the other boy didn't want to be undressing and changing next to Kurt.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Sam really did have absolutely no homophobic feelings in his whole body and Kurt was surprised and impressed and realized that he'd grossly misjudged Sam and was glad that he could have a friend in him. He'd just thought his nice-guyness had overridden his other feelings last year. "You still owe me a duet, by the way."

"Do I?"

"Sure do, it's Shawn Mendes week, want to do Senorita?"

Kurt laughed. "That's more Camila Cabello' song than Shawn's but sure, let's do it. We'll still both have to do a solo song too though."

"I'm thinking of doing I Know What You Did Last Summer."

"You really are a fan of hers, aren't you?" Kurt laughed. "That's also a duet though."

"Want to do that one with me too?" Sam winked and Kurt bit his bottom lip in amusement. Those two perfectly paired especially if they did it in that order. "You sang with everyone but me alone during prom, so you actually owe me two duets."

"And you want to do both at the same time?" Kurt lifted a brow, he was more than willing to do it, he hadn't sung here in such a long time, maybe Mr. Schue wouldn't give him grief for taking over the choir room for the week with Sam. Rachel on the other hand... oh yeah, she would have a problem with it. Especially as she would be annoyed she had fewer duet options to do with Finn in retaliation. They'd leave them Air.

"Yep, if we stage them right, we can go from one into the other and they won't be able to stop us." Sam laughed and Kurt agreed, he'd do that too.

"What about your solo?"

"Eh, I'll figure something out. He's got a lot of songs, probably This Is What It Takes. What are you going to do?"

"You really like her, don't you?" He teased again but he could see why Sam liked her so much and it was a very good song, but she was just a contribution, there wasn't a female voice on that track. The song choice itself was a good one. Kurt thought about his answer to the question. "With how I'm feeling right now, probably A Little Too Much." Blaine had sung him that song Sunday night and he also sang This Is What It Takes and Life of the Party while he slept, he had woken up enough to hear them and Blaine didn't think it had helped, but it had. Had Blaine somehow gotten the week's assignment from Mr. Schuester? Or was it just a coincidence that they both liked Shawn Mendes? He was a popular artist right now.

He heard those songs in his head, all in Blaine's voic, not Shawn's as he walked down the halls today whenever he found himself reaching for his phone to call Blaine, feeling overwhelmed, he would love to sing them himself, to Blaine, but it would have to do on Friday in Glee Club as a private dedication to him one of the songs.

"He's doing a lot of current artists now." Sam mentioned as they went in and true to his word, he changed right next to Kurt without once appearing awkward about it. He stripped all the way down and changed into his gym clothes and Kurt didn't want him to wait so hurried to change out of his clothes too. He did one piece at a time though so his body was never really bared to anyone in the room. Sam may not care, but others might.

"It's nice." Kurt agreed about the current artists. "There are a lot of people who have a full selection to choose from, that have something to say." Kurt had mentioned that to Mr. Schue last year and had been met with resistance. He loved Britney Spears probably more than most people but Britney was a little out dated by the time they started high school, still fantastic, but about 5-10 years too late.

Even Pitbull was starting to get dated, which was the artist they'd done for their end of year showcase last year. Still around, same with Britney Spears, but not as relevant to the kids in the classrooms. Not that Kurt was the pioneer on current artists and songs, he loved the old school melodies and old showtunes and new ones alike. He liked top 40 as well as everyone else too but he wanted to hear some of the less known songs too that spoke to someone. He was often one of the first to find a song or artist that wasn't popular yet but would be a year later.

He got separated from Sam during the actual class as they got split into 4 teams and the gym teacher was almost cruel to Kurt because he couldn't keep up with the other students while playing basketball, he was forced to run around the perimeter of the gym 10 times and couldn't go until he did it. He wasn't alone, Ben was also forced to do the same thing but he was panting and having trouble keeping up with Kurt, which was pretty bad, but Kurt wasn't out of shape, just wasn't a team sport player. Sam waited at the doors to the locker room though until Kurt finished but around lap 4, he decided to just join Kurt in his pace around the room and they chatted.

Then they headed into the locker room together and showered and got dressed, Sam always at a respectable distance but always nearby. He even waited while Kurt did his hair and applied lotion. "Thanks Sam." He said once they left the locker room to head to class. "You made it possible to even be in there again." He hadn't been scared while Sam was close and he had to make sure the blond knew that he appreciated it. Sam was 2 grades younger than Karofsky and had taken a hit in there too for Kurt at one point, a black eye his punishment for standing up to the older boy. He wasn't even very close with Kurt at the time, just didn't think it was right to bully him. "Thank you for all that you've done these last two years."

"Whatever." Sam blushed. "We're friends, it's what friends do for each other."

Kurt smiled broadly at Sam. "Yeah, we're definitely friends."

When Kurt talked to Blaine that evening though, he wasn't totally pleased by what Kurt had to say about Sam. "Those are such a sexy songs." Blaine groaned. "How could you do a duet with someone else and sing about things like that?"

Blaine was trying to ignore the thwap, thwap, thwap from his roommate lying on his bed and tossing the ball up into the air and catching it again while he talked with Kurt. They were better now but little things just seemed so new to him, he had never been bothered by the sounds Kurt made while Blaine was talking to someone on the phone.

He just had to get used to it, he reminded himself. Soon he wouldn't even notice.

"It's just Sam." Kurt protested. "You've met him a million times, he's straight and is dating Mercedes now."

"What happened with – never mind." Blaine remembered now that Quinn had cheated on Sam with Finn and then broke up with Finn to go back to Puck. "When did Mercedes and Sam get together?"

"Over the summer." Kurt explained. He hadn't known either, they'd hid it until school started again and had been caught holding hands, which was the only reason anyone knew they were together. "And on that note, Artie and Brittany are broken up, Tina is with Mike and..." Kurt paused, trying to remember if there were any other changes over the summer, even though he'd seen them all several times, they both had, they'd been pretty quiet on the dating front until summer ended and they knew if it was something they'd continue with it during the school year. "Lauren broke up with Puck after saying she was not returning to Glee Club this year."

"Uh yeah, hence why Quinn and Puck are back together, they've been together since before school ended last year." Not that it would surprise Blaine if those two cheated as well behind the scenes, Santana had mentioned as much about still getting it on with Puck, but he wasn't sure if that was totally true. All of those kids at McKinley were so casual with the term 'relationship' and none really believed in monogamy or working through arguments rather than throwing in the towel, except Kurt and Mike. They weren't even all that concerned with staying with the same gender half the time. Blaine felt bad though about snapping that at Kurt, he kept forgetting that those two were back together too and so if Kurt forgot that Blaine already knew, it was probably because neither could really keep track of their relationships. "Sorry. They probably broke up and got back together over the summer and might be new again. I didn't mean to say it like that. What about Glee then? Any potentials to join up this year?"

"Maybe, I don't know. There's a new kid, Rory, I heard him singing at lunch, he sounds pretty good. Not sure if he'll join though."

"Why not?" Blaine wondered, relaxing into his seat, if there was something wrong, it was long forgotten. He kicked his feet up onto the desk, something Kurt would have scolded him about had he been there to see it, especially as he had his shoes on. Kurt just sounded so happy and excited and seemed like he had a good day. Maybe Blaine had read too much into those texts/words earlier and after an initial rough emotional start it was fine.

"Well, first of all, he's living with Brittany as a foreign exchange student but she thinks she's the only one who can see him and that he's a leprechaun there to fulfill all her wishes."

Blaine broke into a loud laugh and the ball stopped in Sebastian's hand as he looked over at Blaine, wondering what was so funny. He had only heard Blaine's side of things. Blaine didn't even notice Sebastian listening in carefully. "Santana hasn't said anything?"

"Oh, you know Santana, she cornered him and threatened him and told him that he was going to grant all of Brittany's wishes or he'd have to answer to her. But he was never going to get anywhere with Brittany otherwise and if she found out that he even tried then he'd be answering to her too." Blaine kept laughing, it was getting harder to breath.

"And Brittany has really no clue that he's just a kid?"

"Nope. Which isn't surprising because it's Brittany but he's already been slushied." Kurt shook his head. "Poor kid has only been here a day and is already getting harassed."

Blaine stopped laughing and his eyes narrowed at the wall in front of him. Kurt didn't notice that he wasn't with him finding humor or pity in the situation. "I thought the ones doing the slushying were gone."

"Yeah, I thought so too. I'm sure it was a relief to Rachel and whoever-" Kurt paused a second with whatever else he was going to say. "Shit." Kurt realized what he'd just admitted by accident and that Blaine had already figured it out. "Blaine, it's okay, I'm ok."

Blaine's hand was tight around his cellphone, his fingers were starting to go numb with how tightly he held it. "It's not ok, Kurt. It's the only reason you're back at that school – and if Sue can't do a better job with protecting you – I-." He didn't know what he wanted to say there but he wanted Kurt back at Dalton now more than ever.

"It's just the other two. Karofsky isn't here. He would have graduated last year anyway. Azimio is in my grade and the hockey player... well actually, I think he repeated a year."

"That doesn't matter, not after what they did to you." Blaine had dropped his feet back to the floor, no longer relaxed, at all.

"They won't bother me, especially if they don't want to go back to jail. They even apologized." Kurt didn't go into what they said or how he felt about it. He definitely didn't mention the note. There'd always be someone who would cause mischief and want to cause him grief, even if they didn't do anything physically to him. Whether they just passed on the note or wrote it themselves, he wasn't sure but it was gone now, whoever had delivered it had taken it back once they'd gotten the reaction out of him they wanted.

"There's no guarantee."

"Neither of them are Karofsky. They don't care enough about me to bother with me. They have other students they can harass." There had been a third person once upon a time, another hockey player but he hadn't seen him outside of the video while his car was being defaced. Maybe he was the one who delivered the letter? "Like Rory, which is why he probably won't join, if he does then he'll have even more grief sent his way and slushies." Kurt tried to deflect back to what they were talking about before but Blaine wasn't letting it go.

"Kurt."

"Blaine."

"You didn't do something stupid, like forgive them, did you?" It would have been such a Kurt thing to do.

Kurt grunted. "No."

"Good-" He heard the shudder at the word. "I'm sorry, I thought you were over that trigger, and I forgot because you haven't reacted to it in so long when others have said it."

"No, it's a common enough word, it wasn't – it's not – damn it Blaine, I wasn't going to tell you this until the weekend. But there was a letter in my textbook today."

Blaine couldn't breath for a second and remembered that he wasn't alone but wasn't sure where he could go to have this conversation in private. "One second, I want to hear all about it but first I need to-" He saw that the bathroom door was open and headed in there and locked it behind him. He moved as far from the door as he could and ended up closing the seat of the toilet and sitting on the back of it. "Ok, now tell me everything."

Then Kurt told him the whole sorry tale, starting with the boys in the hallway and ending with the letter missing when they went to look for it.

Blaine took in a deep steadying breath held it and then slowly let it out. "I wish you told me this at lunch."

"Why? So you could be miserable all day?" Kurt remembered the second half of the day and tried to cheer Blaine up. "On the plus side, I'm not terrified of that locker room after all. Sam went in with me both before and after gym and he helped chase away the ghosts."

Sam, again, Blaine scowled. He was well aware that the blond was straight and pro-cause but Kurt used to have a mini-crush on him and now Sam was being his hero this year. Jealousy, Blaine reminded himself, was not a good look on him and attempted to shove it to the side, he was glad Kurt had good friends there that could support him. He just wished he was there too. You could have been, a voice reminded him but he had not followed through with it. Now though, if Sue was in charge, maybe she'd have a different answer. He'd have to ask her. Kurt was friends with these boys before Blaine entered the picture and nothing had happened. He wasn't thinking that Sam would start hitting on Kurt, just he was someone that Kurt could rely on instead of Blaine. He felt useless so far away. But he had been in the same situation when he and Kurt first started dating. Except now, Kurt was more secretive about what happened to him rather than turn only to him but either way it would take an hour and half to get to him if something did happen. That wasn't true... the time was but Kurt would still tell him when he needed to, when he wanted to.

He groaned at himself without letting Kurt hear it, he needed to get his head back on straight. He must just be tired. Tomorrow would be better. "I'm glad."

"I'm going to try going in there tomorrow on my own." Kurt continued and Blaine's stomach rolled, what if he was triggered and no one was there? Someone should be nearby, just in case.

"Isn't that a little too soon?" Blaine asked carefully.

"Why push things off?" Blaine could practically hear the shrug from Kurt on the other end of the line. "We're also going to be bringing back the theatre, put a little more musical theater into the school. It'll be good for my NYADA and other New York college application. I can submit the additional extracurricular activities before my audition in the spring."

"Oh?" Blaine let Kurt distract from what happened this morning, he was trying really hard to get over it and if Kurt could do it, so could Blaine, right? "What play is your school going to do?"

"A musical version of Romeo and Juliet."

Blaine liked that play. "Will it be open to outsiders?"

"Of course." Kurt started talking about wanting to try out for Romeo. Although Mercuito would be a second choice.

"I'd watch that. Over and over again." He'd watch anything that Kurt was in.

"Thanks." Kurt did a decent job distracting Blaine but when he started talking about the weekend and running lines with Blaine, he remembered his own plans made that morning.

"I might not be there this weekend, actually. Sebastian said he'd switch sides with me and I'm not sure how long it's going to take."

"Shouldn't take more than part of a day." Kurt's voice was hurt but quickly recovered. "How much stuff do you two have?"

"I'll try to get there for most of the day Sunday at least and leave Monday morning." Blaine promised. He wanted to go tonight but it was much too late, and a Monday. He wouldn't be turned away but Kurt would be annoyed that he did it and cut down on his sleep and study time and would remind Blaine again that he wasn't a weakling, and nothing had happened, there's no reason for Blaine to be there, except that he wanted to be. Kurt needed to be stronger for both of them. Although he hadn't felt that strong that morning when he was faced with the other two bullies and then the letter. Blaine needed to stay and study and get good sleep.

Kurt held his arm around his waist and sighed, flopping back onto the bed. "Don't push yourself, Blaine. If you can't come this weekend, it'll be fine. I know how much happier you'll be with the room switched around. Make sure it's comfortable now rather than worry about it over the next several months that something's not right."

"Kurt..." Blaine knew he shouldn't have said anything until he knew what the plan was for this weekend but he hadn't wanted to spring it on him Friday either. "I want to see you this weekend."

"I want to too but you need to be comfortable at Dalton too. You live there."

They chatted for awhile longer, flirting sometimes and just chatting otherwise. There was a knock on the door and Blaine had completely forgotten he'd holed up in the bathroom and Sebastian probably had to go. "I'll talk to you in the morning."

"Ok." Kurt agreed.

"Love you." Blaine said before they hung up.

"Love you too." Kurt's voice was soft and they both meant it with every part of their being.

He got up and stretched out his legs, they were actually cold for a change and opened the door to an amused Sebastian. "Everything ok in here? You weren't having phone sex, were you? And I didn't interrupt, did I?"

Blaine shook his head. "No, it was just something private I needed to talk to him about. Sorry I hogged the bathroom."

"It's cool, just next time let me go first." Sebastian slid by him, his arm brushing Blaine's. Blaine closed the door behind him as he fully exited and went back to his own bed and stared up at the ceiling, a small smile on his face. Eighty-nine miles away his boyfriend laid in his bed too and was likely thinking of him, he was the luckiest guy in the world.

He fell asleep on the covers with a smile still on his face. He slept so soundly that he didn't even feel the blanket get draped over him. He really had been tired if he slept that deeply. He almost missed Kurt's call to him, he had overslept, oops. He chatted with Kurt as he got dressed and headed for breakfast, he'd brush his teeth after eating.

Kurt was running out the door too and he could hear Finn shouting at him that they had to go and lover-boy could wait. "He's sounding more and more like Santana." Blaine complained rubbing his ear from that was still ringing from the volume. "Did he have to be that loud?"

"He didn't realize I was around the corner from him." Kurt didn't sound perturbed at all. "Have a good morning."

"You too. Talk to you at lunch." He heard Kurt's agreement and after a round of 'I love you' they hung up.

Blaine sank down at the table with a plate of hot fresh food and dug in and laughed and chatted with his friends. They didn't mention Kurt and neither did Blaine but they didn't often talk about the missing significant others unless there was something amusing or important to bring up; or if there was something they needed to work through with a sounding board. Right now everything was good so there wasn't a reason to bring him up. Plus they talked to Kurt directly often.

They chatted about movies, video games, latest gossip around the school and around the country. They talked about new songs and potentials for this year's set list.

–

Elsewhere Kurt was doing the same thing but fashion got put into place of video games as he talked with Rachel and Mercedes, his arm firmly linked with both of theirs as they walked down the hall. A huge grin was on Kurt's face as he felt at home in this school once more, he was a Senior and these were his girls and this was his year.

And no one was going to pick on him or bully him. No one.

Will and Sue had worked out a practice schedule that benefited both sides, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday the Cheerios in the Glee Club reported to Sue first for practice and then they went to Glee Rehearsals. Monday, Wednesday and Friday they went to glee first and then Cheerios. The football players had the same schedule which then opened Mr. Schue up for his other extra job in the school- overseeing the after school tutoring sessions on his days.

"When did Mr. Schue make the switch from Spanish teacher to history teacher?" Kurt asked Santana as he stretched with her. They were working on forward pulls and were using each other to pull the other towards them. They'd move into splits next. He was glad he was wearing stretchy pants for this.

"When I called him out on his bullshit. I had to take a second language despite being fluent in it and he didn't even know what he was saying and just continuing the terrible education of Spanish in this town. He's better off in History class. He and that hot sub could swap stories or he could just bum off of her."

Kurt shrugged. He liked history well enough but wasn't interested in fact checking Mr. Schue, as long as he got an A, he was fine. "It's the first time I've had him as a teacher other than in Glee Club."

"Oh, that's right, you take French." Santana totally forgot that. She started speaking in Spanish and Kurt matched her in French, he may not know what she was saying but she didn't know what he was saying either and they were actually talking about the same topic, anyone listening though who understood both would be wondering why they were just repeating each other in their own languages.

They looked at each other and started laughing and had to stop for a second to get their wits back before moving onto the next pose. Being relaxed made it a lot easier.

"Does the hobbit know you can do this?" Santana held Kurt's shoulders to help him stay down into the pose and then if needed to help him out of it. He was doing the forward splits and he didn't need her help for that foot being in front but when he switched legs he did need her help to just get that bit further and then back up again.

Kurt sighed as he went into side splits, here he got down on his own, held it and managed to push himself back up. He took over the role of spotter for Santana. "No, it hasn't come up. It's not like the Warblers did a lot of those motions." Though Blaine did when he was getting into his singing and dancing, not splits exactly, but dance moves that weren't exactly 'warbler' norm. "And he's not short. He's average height."

"Around here, he's short." Santana argued as she did first one foot forward, turned into side splits without getting all the way back up, just enough to rotate her legs and then did it again to have the other foot forward. Damn, she was good. "You're taller than him and we all view you as this little guy." She gave him a look over her shoulder. "Though together you two seem practically the same size and neither 'small' but not big either, just under average. You two look good together because you are so closely matched. Neither of you look weirdly dwarfed, at least not until you get next to Finn or someone but you are so much taller than Berry now, it's so funny."

"Why do people keep bringing up our sizes?" Kurt ran a hand up his right arm, rubbing it. "At Dalton we were around the same height as most of the other boys, neither of us seemed small or short." There were a few bigger boys but overall they were all fairly average and hard to tell one from the next and the bigger boys seemed awkward in their height.

Santana frowned at his new emotional tell. "Does it hurt still?"

"What?" Kurt asked, not sure what she was asking.

"Your arm. I've seen you rub it a few times when you're stressing out about something or annoyed, like now."

"Oh." Kurt dropped his hand from his right arm, he would run his hand from wrist to up passed his elbow and back down, for comfort and warmth. He still held his right arm crossed over his stomach, not realizing he'd done that a lot too. "No?" There was a faint scar if you looked close enough from where they had to do surgery but you couldn't feel it or see it normally. It was the same elbow that had been strained in the past too. He didn't protect his ribs like that though, even though those had been hurt too and more recently, but they had healed faster.

"Are you sure?" Santana checked.

"I don't know, it aches a little when the weather changes quickly and sometimes it doesn't seem as strong as it used to be." Not that he was comparing it with his left, he had learned to do a lot with his left but his right used to be a lot more dominant and stronger.

Santana wondered if he did that at Dalton too and decided he probably did but they didn't know it was a new quirk or wasn't as stressed there so didn't do it as much. "Something stress you out today?"

"I just miss my friends at Dalton and wish that I could combine both schools, or at least just my friends into one big group so I wouldn't have to miss anyone." He text with the other boys, even David who'd been at Yale for the last month and was doing well there. Nick had been mono-syllable and he knew that Nick was worrying about something but Jeff and Wes texted him constantly and not a single text was about Blaine.

He hadn't told them about Romeo and Juliet or trying out for it. "Want to run lines this week for the play?"

"I'm going to be pushed into the background as the nurse or something, there's no real good female roles outside of Juliet, it's a men's show."

"Then be Juliet." Kurt suggested silkily.

"Rachel will freak out." Santana was surprised Kurt would suggest it.

"I am trying out for Romeo, try out with me." And the grin that split Santana's mouth was scary and amazing and beautiful all at the same time.

They were doing the 1999 Ordway production of Romeo and Juliet; Mann-Korman's rock opera where Romeo was played by Patrick Wilson. It was a very hard to find version but Kurt had a copy of both the original music sheets, and a recording of it in his basement. He'd listen to the three songs on the CD far too often on repeat and wished it was the whole set. It was an updated version of Romeo and Juliet but even grittier and more beautiful than the versions that came before or after it, except for maybe the very first time it was seen by the audience in the Globe Theatre. He was their cult following, it hadn't had very good reception by others but once he showed the other Glee kids the video, they were eager to do it themselves. He hoped to continue the interest in the old musical and at least gain a few more cult followers.

"Don't think I forgot what we were talking about." Santana said in his ear as she helped him stretch out some more muscles.

"Can't we drop it?" Kurt thought he'd done a great job side-tracking people from what he didn't want to talk about and he succeeded but they all remembered eventually, sooner than he'd liked.

"We can, but let me know if something is bothering you." Santana thought about it. "Let's have another party!"

"No." Kurt didn't like parties with the New Directions and Warblers together. Separate it could be ok, but together they always ended in disaster.

"Yeah, come on, it'll be fun!"

"When in our history of combined parties, has it been all right?" Kurt looked at her as if she was crazy. "Blaine made out with you at the first party, I was forced to kiss another boy too. Rachel and Blaine got so drunk they couldn't leave that basement and I ended up cleaning everything up. Then Rachel and Finn broke up at the next one." They could go out and have fun as both groups, but a party with alcohol was never a good mix.

"It's going to be ok this time. I'll make sure it is." Santana begged with little puppy dog sounds and Kurt laughed and gave in, she'd be doing it anyway. "Yay! This is going to be so much fun! Brittany!" She whirled away to leave Kurt to join up with Brittany's stretching partner while the two conspired.

It was going to be in 2 weeks on a Saturday. Santana had stolen Kurt's phone so she could text all of them too. David had to decline because he was at Yale but she'd texted Blaine that he could bring any new Warbler or Dalton boy he wanted to introduce into the mix.

Blaine invited both Sebastian and Trent and he even extended an invite to Thad. Thad was in his year and he was trying to get to know more people who weren't going to be leaving him next year. "Thanks but Kurt already invited me." Trent said and Blaine was glad that Kurt didn't forget the younger boy.

Blaine talked to Kurt that evening when he got home. He was alone for a change in his dorm room. "So, you're throwing a party?"

"No, Santana is. She convinced me to invite everyone."

"So, she stole your phone." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah, but it was the same people I would have invited, so it's fine. I knew she was going to do it. Once I said ok, she went into planning mode with Brittany much to Sue's annoyance." Kurt rubbed his arm again unconsciously. "So... Sebastian, Trent and Thad are coming too." It also wasn't a question but there was one in there, somewhere and Blaine tried to decipher what it was.

"Yeah. I know you and Thad didn't exactly get along but you didn't not get along either."

"I get it. Maybe he'll be a little more fun if he loosens up." Kurt shrugged across the screen while they face-timed.

"Sebastian?" Blaine asked, wondering if that's where Kurt was having trouble with the invites.

"You really think he's a nice guy?" Kurt hadn't met him yet and Blaine was like another Katy Perry song with him – Hot and Cold. Sometimes he thought he was an annoyance and others he liked him, even last night he had admitted to finding some of his quirks really distracting and annoying, now he was back to thinking Sebastian was nice. Nick's texts about him were still monosyllable but weren't exactly positive, if that was even possible, a lot of 'sure', 'ok' and 'guess so' texts back when Kurt asked how the new potential Warbler was fitting in and how Nick viewed him as a person, Is he nice? Sure. Is he cute? Guess so. Good singer? Guess so. Like him? Sure. Three-some planned with him? No. Want a three-some with him? No. How does Jeff like him? Ok. Kurt had wanted the gossip from Nick and he reached out to Jeff about it but he was given even less information from Jeff who didn't really gossip as much. Yeah, he's cute, but no worries, you're cuter! A lot of Jeff's texts were sent back trying to reassure Kurt that he was better than Sebastian in all ways that mattered but that hadn't been Kurt's goal, he just wanted to know about the new boy. Nobody had anything concrete to say about him though.

"I don't know him well enough. He's inquisitive and friendly and seems pretty nice. He's interested in my life and my friends and hearing about my day." Blaine held his phone above him as he laid on the bed in his uniform. "He put a blanket over me last night when I fell asleep on my covers. That's pretty nice."

"Yeah, that does sound like a nice thing to do." Kurt knew the other boys and liked them and knew Blaine always had nice friends, it was just that Blaine hadn't chosen this one, it was pushed onto him and he may be confusing friendship with confinement and getting along enough to survive. He would give Sebastian a chance, he always did and always would.

They talked about Blaine's day but it was mostly the usual, when they didn't leave campus much, there wasn't a lot of room for exciting events to unfold, especially in a school with all boys that was extremely safe and disciplined any bad behavior. They were such good boys too, Blaine and the others, they wouldn't dream of doing anything to the school, took great care of it and were taken care of as well in return. It was a safe haven for most of them and so, no, there wouldn't be any bad behavior there.

Yet Blaine could make watching paint dry sound like fun and interesting. Kurt just loved listening to his voice, hearing the vowels form, letters drop from his mouth and Kurt sighed blissfully and closed his eyes focusing on just the sounds, forgetting that Blaine could see him because they were doing a video chat. Blaine started laughing and even his laughter was beautiful. "Are you falling asleep on me over there?" Blaine didn't sound irritated, he liked that look on Kurt's face, he had screen captured it before he started laughing, wanting to capture it before disturbing Kurt's peace.

"No." Kurt snuggled into his pillow, protesting the idea but not wanting to open his eyes either. Although he did like looking at Blaine too and he peeked one eye open to see a very cute Blaine in front of him. "Sorry, your voice though is just so sexy and I couldn't help but just enjoy listening."

"Maybe share the love next time?" Blaine asked softly. "I am the same way when it comes to your voice. I feel like I'm the one doing all the talking tonight."

"I told you so much already." Kurt protested.

"We talked about the party, you didn't tell me about your day."

For a showman and actor, Kurt was oddly quiet about himself and his day. He didn't wax lyrical poetry about himself or day. If he was talking about something he was passionate about, then yes, he talked a lot. He repeated dialogue and gossiped and practiced moves and songs. Yet he didn't tell stories about himself. He didn't take a moment and expand it into a grand tale. Blaine knew Kurt had the much more interesting life, that there was so much happening around him every hour of every day and yet he kept so much of it to himself. He had an active imagination and could fantasize about things, dreamed it, could see it in his mind's eye but if it wasn't fashion or an art project of some sort, he didn't really share.

Blaine had asked him about his fantasies once and Kurt had blushed and shut down and wouldn't talk about it. He wouldn't even share his ideas about a performance or fashion item until he had visual aids to help others picture what he was talking about, sure nobody else could see what he could without props. It may be true, Kurt's brain was so rich and deep that he probably could see so much more than anyone else could, no one else would have dreamed of some of the outfit choices he came up with and may have resisted until they saw it all put together.

Kurt knew he had to do first and then ask permission or forgiveness after, when it came to his ideas. The only one who may be on his page was actually Sue Sylvester, some of the things she put together were so over the top and wouldn't be believed until they saw it for themselves. Maybe that's why she liked Kurt so much.

Kurt was also very kind to Becky when no one else was, always complimenting her and she thanked him for his compliments where she snapped back at anyone else who tried with insults instead of thanks. He had been there for Sue when she'd lost her sister, had put together a funeral that her sister would have absolutely loved. Finn had helped with that one too, and Blaine had wanted to help but Kurt had shaken his head quickly, this was something the three of them needed to do alone. He sat in attendance though, even though he didn't know Sue at the time or even really now, but he wanted to be supportive. He'd done it even though he'd been at Dalton at the time.

"Tell me more." Blaine turned over onto his stomach and pulled the pillow to under his chest and held it as if he was holding Kurt, his eyes on his boyfriend's beautiful face.

"You need to change out of your Dalton uniform." Kurt commented, realizing they were both still fully dressed for the day. "You forgot yesterday." Blaine had told him that and he smirked as a thought came to him.

"Want to watch me change?" He asked suggestively and Kurt sat up and looked around as if his dad had just caught him in a compromising position and jumped up to close his door.

"Shh, someone might overhear." Kurt was bright red as he returned to his bed. "He won't let you stay over if he thinks you're corrupting me."

"With where we stand, I'm thinking you're the one corrupting me." Blaine teased and Kurt turned even redder. He wanted to ask but he didn't push it, he was still waiting for Kurt's answer about watching him change.

"Yes." Kurt breathed. "I really want to watch you change." He drew his knees up and brought over his phone stand that attached to the bed so he didn't have to hold it. Blaine sat his phone on his desk and looked around as if to double check that he was alone. Then he started his strip tease, coming closer and going further away from the phone while dancing.

Kurt was going to die with how much he loved this. "I wish I thought to tape this from start to finish." He said as Blaine's shirt started being unbuttoned in full view of the camera.

"This won't be the only chance you can." Blaine responded and started humming Katy Perry's Teenage Dream. Kurt hadn't heard the song for awhile but it was never far from his mind, it had found it's way into his heart and it would forever be attached to Blaine.

"I'm going to hold you to that promise." Kurt vowed and Blaine turned and sent a wink over his shoulder and then a kiss. "Oh- Blaine – your door-"

Blaine was bent over with his butt towards the camera shaking it and in walked his roommate finding him in a very compromising position. "Oh!" Blaine jerked upright and looked down at himself, he was definitely in a very compromising position and turned away from Sebastian and looked over at Kurt for help.

Kurt was just in a fit of giggles though and was no help at all. Sebastian stood there almost shell-shocked at the straight-laced Blaine strip teasing to a camera feed. "I didn't know you had it in you." Sebastian commented and Kurt was glad that his own pants and reaction couldn't be seen from how the camera was angled on his end. He wasn't even touching himself and he was glad for that, he still didn't really do that.

Blaine quickly pulled on his pajamas and kept his back to Sebastian but seeing Kurt's red laughing face wasn't helping him calm down. He was having trouble breathing because he was laughing so hard. Slowly Kurt calmed down enough to at least try and help Blaine out. "Hi! I'm Kurt, Blaine's..."

"Boyfriend, I gathered." Sebastian filled in when Kurt hesitated.

"I didn't know if you knew." Kurt hadn't wanted to blab Blaine's life story to anyone.

"Well, if I hadn't before, I would have definitely figured it out now. Unless of course, he make money doing videos like that for individual customers." Sebastian was dry, witty and sharp and Kurt liked that. On the wrong side of each other and they'd have to figure out who won the fight by breaking down every slice through the other and how many layers it could be taken through and ways it could be taken; but together they would be a force to be reckoned with.

"Are you keeping Blaine on his toes?" Kurt asked, his redness was fading and Blaine was gathering himself back together just as quickly.

"I am here, you know?" Blaine asked glancing first at Kurt then over his shoulder at Sebastian.

"Yeah, but we figured you would rather not be or at least be forgotten temporarily, due to your predicament." Sebastian and Kurt said at the same time and they looked at each other and both laughed. "Touche." Sebastian nodded toward Kurt who grinned back, oh he definitely liked Sebastian at this point.

"Are you coming to the party at the end of next week?" Kurt would like to meet this guy in person.

"Yeah, if that's ok." Sebastian was just oozing charm talking with Kurt and Blaine had seen him do that with others too. He'd tried to do it with Blaine but it had just made him feel a little awkward, all those compliments and attention.

"Of course, you wouldn't have been invited otherwise." Blaine was surprised how smooth Kurt was being now too, he didn't hear a note of hesitancy in his voice. He had been unsure of Sebastian prior to this chat, what had changed? Was he buying into Sebastian's charm? That seemed unlike Kurt.

For Kurt's part, he liked Sebastian's quick wit. He wasn't fooled by the charm, the only charmer he liked was Blaine because it was genuine. Jesse St. James, Sebastian, they both thought they were all that but the charm was so fake, they were just covering up inner insecurities. Kurt could see it clearly and right now he didn't have any reason to dislike Sebastian as a whole, just that aspect of him and he was trying to be so charming to Kurt right then. He let him try and pretended it worked because while Sebastian thought he was fooling Kurt, Kurt was fooling him and seeing a lot more than he pretended he was. He would just have to watch him and learn as much as he could about him, find out what he wanted from Kurt to warrant that charm.

"Well, I'll probably change too and go to bed. Night guys!" Kurt hung up before either could reply, he heard his dad walking down the hallway and he darted into the bathroom to hide his own problem.

"Well, he's cute." Sebastian commented lightly. "I can see why you've kept him to yourself so far."

"What do you mean?" Blaine asked, something about the words felt like nails on a chalkboard but he couldn't figure out what in that sentence made him wince like that.

"You haven't even put his picture up." Sebastian pointed out. He had numerous pictures on his phone of Kurt that he flicked through and replaced his home page and lock screen with periodically, that sleepy content look was going to be his new wallpaper on his phone's lock page and his startling blue eyes were going to be his new home screen scroll... but Blaine supposed Sebastian was right, even Kurt had a large picture of him up in his locker. It wasn't his favorite picture of himself, his hair was a mess and he was doing a weird dance move but Kurt loved it and so he didn't argue about him having it up where so many people could see it. Nobody else mattered but Kurt anyway, definitely not those homophobic snots at McKinley.

He would have to figure out a picture or two that he would put up. He was pretty sure he was going to put that one he took today was going to end up by his bedside. Or maybe even a pillow cover so he could cuddle up with him while he slept. No, that might be too big of a face, even if it was Kurt's.

"There's really no point of him coming to Dalton when he doesn't attend except maybe for the showcases. He may stay over on those nights, if you're cool with it." They were usually on Saturdays.

"Sure." Sebastian sent him a toothed smile. "As long as you're ok with me bringing boys in too sometimes."

"Oh!" Blaine hadn't known. "You're gay?"

"Do I really pass that well?" Sebastian asked with amusement. "I thought I was pretty obvious."

"I don't like to assume. I usually figure most guys are straight until they tell me otherwise." Blaine shrugged, it was safer that way.

"Well, I'm Gay, capital G gay." That was something Brittany would have said and it caused Blaine's lips to tilt into a smile. Maybe Sebastian would fit in well with Kurt's friends, better than the Warblers did at least; he had a rough edge to him that spoke of a past that wasn't so squeaky clean like the rest. Not that Nick's back story was all that clean but he did put on a pretty good front when he wasn't opening his mouth to say very inappropriate things. Nick probably got on the best with the NDs, actually out of all of them. The rest they tolerated because they were sweet and brought booze.

Speaking of... "I'll get us some alcohol for the party." Blaine had a whole stash at home that he could bring.

"Nah, I'll get it, I have connections. Although now that I realize you're not so straight-laced, you might have those connections too." He wiggled both brows and Blaine laughed, somewhat because he was funny but somewhat because he was embarrassed. "What does Kurt drink?"

"Oh, um, he doesn't actually." Blaine felt like he was saying too much about Kurt.

"Really, ever?" Sebastian's eyes were on Blaine's face who only shrugged one shoulder, it was true. "Ok then, that's cool." Sebastian shrugged out of his blazer and started changing. "Maybe he will some day. You said he's a senior, right?" At Blaine's nod, he continued. "Maybe next year he'll let loose with all the Freshmen in college, feeling that since he's now an adult he can drink and it not mattering as much. Peer pressure or whatever and being away from the adults he has to return home to."

It was certainly a possibility. Blaine didn't want to think of it coming true, especially without him there to witness it, enjoy and partake in it. "Yeah, I don't know." Blaine shrugged, knowing his family's history with alcohol, it was unlikely. His mom had been hit by a drunk driver too. It wasn't what killed her, she'd gone into the hospital for the accident and that's when they found the cancer. Kurt had only told him about his mom recently on his last trip to Lima. He didn't share any of that though, those were very private conversations that had taken Kurt a long time to talk about. The last time he'd heard a mention of his mom was during Christmas and then during preparations for Sue's sister's funeral and he'd only overheard it because he was talking to Finn about it. Then nothing more on the topic of his mom until last weekend and only offhandedly for the most part.

Burt made Kurt go in for yearly checks, he carried the gene and it had been time for another check up and Kurt had explained his absence for those couple of hours in the wee early hours of the morning before Blaine even got up to a couple hours after he did get up and went upstairs and looked around for the Hummel men, Kurt had been asleep in bed with him downstairs, both fully clothed. Then Kurt didn't say anything more about his mom or the accident or the cancer. He'd changed the topic and Blaine didn't press, Kurt would talk to him about it when he was good and ready.

Blaine was lost in thought about that now. Kurt never did say what the test results were. His thoughts quickly followed that terrible line of thinking, wondering if that was why Kurt ate so healthily, afraid that if he didn't, he'd open himself up to getting sick? Or if he did get sick, then he'd have a better immune system because he was so healthy? For awhile there he had lost so much weight and had been so weak physically, what if it had allowed the cancer to switch on and – no, he shook those terrible thoughts out of his head. He couldn't think that way, Kurt would have told him if it decided to express itself. Just because he had the gene didn't mean that he'd ever get cancer. Still, that night, Blaine's dreams were plagued by fear, darkness reaching out at him and Kurt around every corner, even just sitting there enjoying a picnic, it threatened to close over them. Even in his dream though he told himself he was a fool to worry about it unnecessarily.

There were so many more things he should worry about, not that. He was determined to put it from his mind, if the Hummels weren't worried about it more than just doing yearly checks, then he wouldn't think about it either. He didn't need to create problems where there was none. Who knew if there as a gene like that lurking in his own cells?

So Blaine did an amazing job of forgetting about it for the rest of the year but would be biting his nails every year after, at that time of year, wanting to know the results with the rest of them and would be able to breathe easily for the following year if they came back negative.

It was easier to stress about that than how Kurt would do going into the locker room the next day. He did fine, it wasn't the place, it was the person who scared Kurt and he happened to be in here 2 of the times he'd been attacked, the only 2 times of a sexual nature. He'd been hurt more in the hallways and had been more scared out there in public and he dealt with that well now too.

–

Kurt found another letter on Wednesday, it was just sitting on top of the shelf in his locker in plain view and couldn't be missed. He didn't want to pick it up, he didn't want to open it. He did both.

Baby,

It'll be so good to see you when I get out. I want to make up the time I spent in here. You'll be the first person I look for and I'll show you everything I've learned about myself. You and I will have a lot to get through, so be prepared for hours of time spent together. I know exactly what you need.

- D.K

The period between the D and K was long, he hadn't realized it before. Not long like a hyphen but long so it looked like a dotless 'i' and where it was put was intentional, he didn't put one after the K. So now it looked like an incorrect spelling of Dick, especially with how he worded the letter. It seemed innocuous enough but he knew that Kurt would know what he was really saying in this letter.

His stomach rolled and he had a hard time not heaving up his somewhat heavy breakfast then and there. The letter fell from his numb fingers and it landed on the floor and he couldn't move, he just stared down at it as if it would suddenly grow legs and walk away.

Why was the letter getting closer? Kurt tried to focus his eyes on it, it was moving, it really was, it appeared to be getting bigger as it got closer but he knew it was the same size.

It was him sinking, he realized belatedly and didn't recognize it until his knees fell painfully against the floor and he sagged into the lockers. Why wouldn't he leave him alone? What was it with this obsession? How had Kurt become the recipient of it?

"Yo, princess, what's wrong?" Puck snapped his fingers in front of Kurt's face and didn't get a response. "Princess?" He shook Kurt, somewhat hard and looked down to where Kurt's eyes were trained. There was a sheet of paper on the ground. What was wrong with a piece of paper? He picked it up and Kurt's hands darted out to grab it back but now that he'd gotten a reaction, Puck knew it had really unsettled Kurt and was determined to figure out why. He held Kurt back with a hand on his chest, pinned to the lockers and flipped the paper over. "That son of a -" Puck's head turned to look at Kurt. "How did you get this?"

Kurt waved absently at his locker which was still open and Puck frowned.

"It was just sitting in your locker? Not wedged in the opening but sitting inside of it?"

Kurt nodded and found his legs to go and run to the bathroom and throw up. Puck didn't follow him and he was thankful for that. He cleaned up and came back to his locker and Puck was looking at it for signs of tampering. "It was just sitting perfectly on the shelf, propped up so I wouldn't miss it, in perfect eye line."

"I'm not a fan of authority but if anyone is going to be able to do something for you in that position, it's going to be Sue Sylvester. Let's go." He dragged Kurt's unresisting body to Sue's office. He dropped Kurt's boneless body into one of the chairs in the corner then slammed the paper down in front of her.

"Becky, how come you just let them in?" Sue asked before realizing that Kurt looked terrible. "Did you eat something that didn't sit well with you, Porcelain?" She put on her reading glasses and then looked at the paper that Puck had brought her and fury took over her face instantly. Puck explained how he'd gotten it and she looked over at it again. "There's a 2 in the corner." She commented. "Aligns with the fact you've already gotten another letter. I wonder how many of these there are, if they were written first and are timed to mess with you or if he's writing them on an ongoing basis. I'll have to stop by the prison he's being held in."

Kurt's head came up at that – well there's a thought... He could confront his bully himself and try to get him to stop, not that it ever worked before with Karofsky. Was he strong enough to do that right this minute though? No, no he wasn't. He'd have to work up to it. The question was, who was delivering the letters? They were already discussing that.

"I have to get your father involved now."

Kurt totally forgot to tell his dad about the first one, he hadn't been planning on telling Blaine and had told him and with the effort it took to keep Blaine in Westerville, he'd plum forgot about Finn insisting on telling his dad about the bullies but then he hadn't known about the letter. He hadn't pushed for him to tell either, thinking he would or forgot himself since nothing came of it. "Yes, yes of course, I probably should have told him earlier, I just tried to keep it from my mind and forgot."

Sue decided that she was going to put a camera in Kurt's locker and another one on the wall across the hall from his locker but so small that nobody would be able to see it if they weren't looking for it. She wasn't going to tell anyone about them, not even Becky or the two in the room with her currently or even Burt Hummel. She'd find out who was messing with her favorite male student.

He reached for his phone, glancing at the clock, he sent a quick text to Blaine, something inane and he wasn't even sure if it was remotely related to what they were chatting about, he just didn't want Blaine to worry. He got a response soon after. Blaine must be glued to his phone waiting for Kurt to call or text or was already on it or had it set to vibrate or alert him when it was Kurt. He didn't know but it was flattering that Blaine was always on it. He wished he was better about that, he just wasn't, with anyone. He got back to Blaine the quickest though, followed by his father but the rest sometimes waited hours or days to get a response.

His dad texted him then after Sue called him to let him know that she needed to see him in her office as soon as he could come in, it could wait until the end of the day if necessary. Everything all right with you?

Physically, yes.

That's an incomplete answer. At least though it was an honest one, Burt appreciated that.

I'll explain everything when I see you. Kurt responded.

I'm on my way, I've got someone who can cover for me. He'd hired someone on to be able to manage the shop while he wasn't around and to take over more and more between his Congress job and his health and wanting to spend more time with his boys now that they were in high school and this year they were seniors and he didn't want to miss their final year, he didn't know when he'd have both under his roof again after this year, especially for any length of time, especially as they were both in deep with their respective relationships and both had someone in the relationship dying to go to New York and the other dragging their feet or just being unable to go right away. Kurt of course knew that his dad had hired someone on that he could trust to cover for him, but he wasn't there every day. Pretty sure his dad had to call him in to cover today.

I'm sorry that I'm such trouble. Kurt sent the message before he thought twice about it. There wasn't a response for a minute and he cringed because it meant his dad was mulling that one over and probably stressing out about it. I just mean – it's been such a racket the last couple of years.

Burt's response was quicker than he thought. You are my son and I would be there for even if you were the one causing the trouble, none of this has been your fault. I would rather have to deal with all of this than not have you in my life at all, you are no trouble,I couldn't have asked for a better son.

Kurt swallowed hard and laid the phone's face against his chest. He had such an amazing father. He didn't know anyone else who would be so calm and collected with everything that had happened.

A quiet sob was torn from his chest. How come he was putting so many people through so much pain just because he existed? Puck whirled around, both of them had almost forgotten Kurt was there with how quiet he'd been. He was over at Kurt's side quickly and kneeling and pulling him into his arms on the ground. Kurt wasn't in his lap but sitting on the ground with his head on Puck's shoulder and his chest against Puck's. He never expected this from Puck, ever and more sobs were pulled from Kurt before he knew what he was doing. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault." He said it on repeat and Puck just held him there, he wasn't offering words of comfort, he was swearing and cursing Karofsky.

Then he forced Kurt away and grabbed his face and tilted his head up and roared at Kurt, everyone he felt was handling Kurt with glove hands, too gently. "You're not at fault. That's a sicko who can't stop his depravity. You are his unfortunate target. This is in no way any of your own doing. We will put an end to it. Don't do anything crazy or stupid, ok?"

"I could say the same to you." Kurt mumbled out, his lips were being smooshed together and talking was difficult. "What stupid, crazy thing could I do?"

"I don't know... I just had a sudden flash of fear that you would try something."

"Like what?" Kurt had too much to live for to try and risk his life doing anything stupid or crazy.

"Just... don't you dare think about skipping out on me or leaving me without letting me know where you went and somewhere I can follow."

"I'm flattered and I didn't know you cared about me that way but I'm taken, Puck." Kurt teased and Puck released his face with a scowl.

"Shut up. Not like that and you know it too."

"No." Kurt agreed rubbing his cheeks so he could get some feeling back into them, or to rub out the slight pain from how tightly he held on. Kurt hoped it didn't bruise, he wasn't sure how he'd explain it. "Only Blaine feels that way about me. Well and Karofsky, apparently." He only felt that way about Blaine.

"Well I'm glad you find this funny." Sue said dryly from her spot behind the desk, still wearing that track suit.

"Why are the two of you on the ground?" Burt asked coming into the room at that point, not sure if he should be concerned that Finn's on again off again best friend was so close to his son, on the ground. "What happened?"

"Just a bonding moment." Kurt said cheekily and Puck growled and reached out and rubbed Kurt's hair out of place. "See, can't stop touching me. I knew it!" He was annoyed by the hair ruffling but he played it off since it was already done and nothing he could about it other than try to get into a semblance of an order.

Puck stood and reached out and physically dragged Kurt up to his feet. He rubbed at the wet spot on his shoulder but didn't say anything about it, he'd been the one pushing Kurt's face against it. "Well he's your problem now." He pushed Kurt into Burt's arms, Burt caught him and looked at Puck oddly but the boy left the office then, not wanting to talk or deal with it any more.

"What was that about?" Burt looked down at his son who shrugged it off. He knew Puck had a heart and he had just shown it.

"That's nothing to be concerned about." Kurt waved it away in the direction Puck was going.

"No, this is the area of concern. This is the second letter of this sort." Sue slid the letter over to Burt but held up a hand. "Don't touch, we might be able to get prints off of it again but I'm doubtful it'll match anyone since we don't routinely print children."

Kurt was feeling a lot better now, Blaine had been right, sometimes crying was just the right remedy and Puck had succeeded in putting Kurt back together. The letter still bothered him but he felt like he could face it a lot better now. Bring on the rest of them! Kurt wasn't going to break down because of them anymore. What could a few letters do to him, anyhow? He wouldn't let them do what they intended to do, he wouldn't let them get to him or unnerve him. No, what unnerved him was how they got into his possession, but he would try really hard to not think about that and keep going on with his day.

His dad had quite a few more things to say and he watched him get red in anger and tried to talk him down but otherwise he just sat back and let Burt spew all he had to say. Sue sat and watched him too, letting him say his piece and nodded appropriately, she was completely sympathetic and agreed with him on all his points. "I know and I'm going to put things into effect. I will find out who's doing this. And then they will be suspended and I will file charges with the police so they have a record. This is not appropriate behavior and they need to know that. I won't tolerate bullying like this."

"Ok?" Burt finally asked Kurt who nodded. "Then get to class." At this point, Kurt could probably pass them in his sleep or without going at all but he dutifully went off, he wanted to.

Kurt didn't say anything to Blaine about it and feigned being too tired to chat that night. Too much homework on Thursday (he had to practice with Sam anyway) and talked with him on Friday after all the Glee performances. He chatted and talked for hours excited and had so much to say and Blaine smiled at hearing so much come out of his boyfriend, not realizing that he did it so he didn't have to lie or pretend to be fine if Blaine asked the wrong question. He didn't give Blaine a chance to talk before hanging up with him so he could go eat with the family.

Blaine didn't come Saturday as expected so Kurt went to the music store and met a very enthusiastic boy there by chance.