WARNING: This chapter is rated M for mentions of self harm. Reader discretion is advised.

"I've been sitting in front of the computer for an hour now, and I have one line written for my speech."

Kurt was sitting on his bed, watching Top Gear with Blaine on their TV. Lizzie was stationed at their computer, staring at a mostly blank word document, head firmly in hands, groaning. She had spent most of her time there sneaking glances at the show, checking her phone, and asking her parents various questions, whether or not they had to do with her speech.

"Wait, where are they, again? Oh, this is the Africa special, okay!"

"How do you spell 'diligent'? With two 'L's, right?"

"Do you know what we're having for dinner tonight?"

Kurt gazed lovingly at his daughter, who was trying, to her credit. She was just having trouble committing to one thing. He chimed in, "Honey, do you want some help?"

"No, that's cheating!"

"What?"

Lizzie whipped her head around to look at her parents, allowing a curl to escape the clip in her hair. "None of the other kids are getting help from their parents!"

Blaine snickered. "I'm positive that they are. Any kid that says that they aren't is probably lying."

Liz scrunched up her nose, pushing her glasses up. "Okay." A triumphant grin made its way onto her face. "Did either of you run for student council when you were in high school?"

As if they had rehearsed beforehand, both Kurt and Blaine responded simultaneously. "Yes."

"And did you win?"

Once again, they responded at the same time. Their answers, however, were different.

"Yes." Blaine said.

"No." Kurt said.

Lizzie had now fully rotated the desk chair to be facing the bed. She let her hair down, her beautiful curls slowly falling down upon her shoulders. She asked, "And did either of you have help from Mimi or Grandpa? Or Gootsie?"

Much to her chagrin, both Kurt and Blaine said, "Yes."

"Oh, come on! Really?"

Blaine was laughing too hard to answer, so Kurt did. "Grandpa helped me edit my speech and Mimi and your Uncle Finn helped with my posters."

"My parents just threw money at me, but that helped me get all the materials and more, so I consider that helping." Blaine added on, once he had stopped laughing.

Kurt looked back at his husband, observing him struggle to sit up on the bed. Once upright, he ran his fingers through his curly, disheveled hair, caught Kurt staring at him, and winked. Kurt rolled his eyes, and turned back to Liz.

"We're being serious, if you want us to help you, then all you have to do is ask. We're not going to write your speech or put up posters for you, but we can steer you in the right direction and offer support where we can."

A small creaking noise was then heard behind Liz, and Kurt's eyes went from his daughter to the almost closed bedroom door, which had just been nudged enough to see Michael peering curiously through towards his sister.

"Hi."

"Um," Lizzie remarked. "Hi? I thought you were supposed to be in bed?"

"He is." Blaine piped up from the bed, behind Kurt. Kurt felt the bed shift and suddenly, Blaine was sitting on the end beside him, looking just as stern and worried about Michael as he was. "What are you doing up?"

"I feel a lot better." Michael shrugged, the baggy sweatshirt bunching up near his neck. To his credit, Kurt did see that his hair was combed and his dark circles were much less prominent. Nevertheless, Kurt still had to put his foot down.

"I'm really glad you're feeling better, but just because it feels that way doesn't mean that you're completely recovered just yet."

"I literally feel like I did before I got sick!"

Blaine chimed in, "And we're relieved! We were really worried about you these past few days, so you can see why we want to make sure you don't hurt yourself!"

Michael pressed his lips together, going pale. He clenched his hands, and Kurt could tell that he was about to say something rash. As it turned out, Kurt was right.

"I don't know if any of you have noticed, but I'm not a little kid anymore! I'm a year away from high school, and you're treating me like some stupid fucking toddler that needs his hand held everywhere! Yeah, I'm autistic, so what? I still know how to do stuff like an adult!" Michael got quiet after this, crossing his arms as if to protect himself. "Why don't you ever let me do anything?"

Kurt was at a loss for words. He knew that yelling wasn't an option, as that would only make things much worse. Instead, he took a breath, and thought for a moment. He reached for the TV controller on the bed behind him and paused the show.

"How long have you felt like this?"

Michael bounced on his heels, causing the floor to creak underneath his weight. "Since I got to middle school."

Blaine asked, "Why didn't you tell us when this began?"

"I thought you guys were just gonna let me do stuff. You know, like the other kids at my school. Hazel goes to the Natural History Museum all the time by herself, and Peter went to Times Square with his sister like a million times this summer." Michael's gaze shifted to the side before nervously continuing. "I mean, you know how you, um- shit!" Michael shook his head, and started over. "At the hospital, after my operation, you were talking to the doctor as if you were the one that was sick, not me!"

What had seemed like such a small thing to Kurt was now seen much differently. An unnerving amount of guilt was beginning to settle in his stomach, and Kurt seriously reconsidered his words at the hospital. "I thought that you were still tired after waking up…"

"I was talking to everyone for a while at that point, actually." Michael narrowed his eyes.

Seemingly sensing the tension after what seemed like a lifetime of sitting idly, Liz awkwardly maneuvered her way out of the computer chair and made a beeline for the door, uttering a quick, "I'm gonna finish my speech in my room."

Once Lizzie's door was heard closing, Michael sat down on the now empty chair, making it squeak softly. He twitched, and spoke. "I'm thirteen! I know that's not very old, but shouldn't it be old enough to do things on my own?"

The late afternoon sun shone bright on the old wooden floors, and Michael curled his toes, sighing as warmth soaked into his feet and legs. He tapped his fingers on the back of the chair, eyes focused on anywhere but his parents. After what seemed like ages of silence, Kurt heard Blaine speak.

"We know you're getting old enough to start doing things on your own. But, if you can remember, we were the same way with Luke and Lizzie. They didn't go out unsupervised at your age, they went out with one of us, your aunts, or someone Kurt and I knew we could trust." Blaine smoothed out the comforter underneath him, and continued. "We want to make sure we know where you are, and when to expect you home. Lucas doesn't have as many restrictions, because he's an adult, but your sister has the same rules as you."

"The only thing we want to see is you safe, healthy, and happy." Kurt added. He couldn't tell if Michael was absorbing what they were saying, so he emphasized, "You can absolutely start doing things more independently, but go slow, alright? Take Luke with you to a museum, and go to a few exhibits by yourself. Does that sound like a good start?"

Michael still looked put-off, but he shrugged, and mumbled, "I guess so."

"Okay, good!" Kurt smiled at his son. Michael stared awkwardly, gave a quick forced smile, and promptly turned around and headed back to his room. Kurt sighed. He let himself fall back into the mattress with a small 'thump'. The cool fabric of the blanket rested against the back of his neck and made him shiver. Kurt shut his eyes and folded his hands over his stomach, lacing his fingers together and gently squeezing his wedding ring. A second 'thump' next to him told him that Blaine had just flopped down next to him, and sure enough, Kurt opened his eyes and saw his husband pulling a face at him.

"Real mature."

"You knew what you signed up for when we got married!"

Kurt giggled, and said, "Alas, I did. I didn't have much time to think about it, though." He shifted so his body was facing Blaine. "It was all so sudden!"

Kurt placed a dramatic hand over his forehead, and Blaine snorted. Blaine reached for Kurt's hand and gently squeezed his fingers. Blaine's hands were warm against Kurt's cold fingers, as usual. Blaine exuded heat like a radiator, and touching him was an excellent way to warm up during colder months.

It being mid to late September, the days were beginning to get shorter, and the very beginnings of dusk were shining through their bedroom windows. One side of Blaine's face was bathed in warm sunlight, his brown eyes resembling caramel. His gray hairs reflected the light wonderfully. Once again, Blaine caught Kurt staring at him.

"Hey."

Kurt smiled. "Hey, yourself." He inched his way forward on the bed, rather ungracefully. As Kurt was struggling to get in the right position, Blaine was fighting back laughter. When Kurt was finally low enough to rest his head on Blaine's shoulder, he blew a raspberry at him.

"Stop making fun of me!" Kurt pouted.

"Making fun of each other has been our love language for how long, now?" Blaine placed a kiss on Kurt's temple, and a second one on his cheek. While snuggling with Blaine helped him calm down, Kurt couldn't help but worry.

"Do you think we're doing things right?"

Blaine raised a brow. "Meaning?"

"With the kids?"

Kurt felt Blaine's chest shake softly as he chuckled. "Bit late to ask that, isn't it? I mean, one's an adult, and our youngest is set to be in high school in a year."

"I know, I know…" Kurt raised his head to look at Blaine. "I just… recent events have me more than concerned."

"Such as?" Blaine wrapped an arm around Kurt's waist.

Kurt propped his head up on his hand. "Well, Luke doesn't seem to be moving forward, and it's taking a toll on him. Michael, as we just saw, wants more freedom. And Lizzie…"

The silence that followed spoke volumes. Both Kurt and Blaine knew they were thinking the exact same thing. In the past year, their daughter had gone through one of the worst periods of her life so far, and rather than try and help, her school ignored her, and even demonized her.

Lizzie's expulsion was a bittersweet experience. Kurt and Blaine were relieved to see her out of that awful school, but Liz had changed as a result. She was quieter, more reserved, and nervous to speak her mind. Kurt still felt miserable every time he recalled the day he realized just how serious his daughter's situation was.

April 23rd, 2039

It had been a quiet day. Almost too quiet, especially with everything going on. Kurt had spent an hour on the phone with Luke, who was nervous for finals week. He couldn't afford to fly back home from Michigan for school breaks, so he had been away from home since the school year began. However, he seemed to love the independence, and Kurt was happy that Luke was finding satisfaction in what he was doing.

Michael had been hard at work on his end-of-year science project. This was his second attempt at winning, and he was certain that he had a strong shot for gold. His friend, Hazel, had won the previous year, and Kurt suspected that Michael was a tad bit jealous.

"What's so great about birds? Why did an experiment about mating calls win?"

"I don't know, sweetheart. Why don't you ask your friend for help on your project?"

"I would rather die."

Kurt had rolled his eyes, smiling. You had to love Michael's persistence and passion. Michael had been home since noon, as his school had a half day. However, Kurt kept glancing at the clock, wondering where on earth Liz was. It was half past three, and she was always home before then. Just as Kurt was going to glance at the clock again, he heard something in the kitchen.

"Hey, Michael, can you get my phone? I left it in the kitchen."

Michael sighed, removing his attention from his work. "Sure."

After his son had retrieved his phone, Kurt hurried to answer.

"Hello?"

"Am I speaking to Mr. Anderson-Hummel?"

"Yes, this is Kurt."

"This is Mrs. Offerfald, your daughter's principal. You need to come and speak with me immediately."

Kurt's blood ran cold. "Why? What's wrong? Is Lizzie hurt?"

The principal's tone went from official to nasty. "Quite the opposite, actually. She gravely injured one of her classmates, badly enough to warrant a hospital visit."

"What?!"

The car ride to Kennedy High was a worrisome one. Liz certainly had her fair share of issues with her school, but Kurt never thought she would resort to violence. He did his best to focus on the road, and all the while, Michael sat in the backseat.

"I bet she finally gave that boy a piece of her mind."

"What boy?" Kurt asked.

"His name's Ben, and he's been an asshole to her since the first day of school."

Kurt took a pause. They were stuck at a red light, and Kennedy High could be seen in the distance, slightly obscured by buildings. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, staring ahead and wondering to himself;

'Why didn't she tell me any of this?'

The light finally turned green, and Kurt shoved his thoughts away like he always did. The remaining few minutes of driving were silent, save for outside noise. The school parking lot was sparsely populated, as most students had gone home for the day, so finding a spot was easy.

Kurt turned in his seat to face his son. "You wanna stay in the car, or are you coming in with me?"

"Oh no, I'm coming! Someone has to hold her back if she decides to start throwing punches!"

As the two men made their way inside the building, Kurt quickly assured Michael, "Liz wouldn't start attacking anyone unprovoked!"

"This place and everyone in it has been provoking her the whole year. Why do you think she started hurting herself?"

"Keep your voice down! How would you feel if your sister spouted private things about you in public?" Kurt hissed. Michael's eyes went wide for a moment, but then he raised his brows in understanding.

"Oh, right. Sorry." His eyes went down towards the ground, and Kurt sighed.

"I know you didn't mean that in a rude way, it's alright." Kurt attempted to rub Michael's shoulder, but his son could only withstand a second before shuffling away, muttering an apology. Michael abruptly changed the subject as they made their way into the school and down the main hall.

"What did she do to him that made him go to the hospital?"

"I don't know, buddy. We'll find out soon enough."

The short journey to the principal's office was tense, with only the sound of two pairs of shoes hitting the linoleum floor, squeaking every so often. A few students had stayed past their last class, seemingly for after school activities. Kurt had followed the signs to his destination, but as he and Michael got closer, they came to the realization that they didn't need the signs anymore.

"MY SON HAS MULTIPLE BROKEN BONES, A CONCUSSION, AND INTERNAL BLEEDING!"

Immediately alarmed by the screaming, both Michael and Kurt stopped in their tracks. Kurt turned to his son.

"Maybe you should wait out here. Or," Kurt turned and saw a bench farther down the hall. "Over there."

Michael had zoomed off before Kurt could finish talking, hastily exclaiming, "Already ahead of you!"

After Kurt was sure Michael was out of earshot, he took a deep breath, swore quietly, braced himself, and walked into the office.

"Alright, now that your father is here, Elizabeth, we can discuss a proper course of action."

Kurt scanned the room. Mrs. Offerfald sat behind a massive, dark desk, looking very important and stern. Sitting in a corner was the angriest woman Kurt had ever seen. Her face was as red as her hair, and her huge jewelry shook with anger at her every movement.

And last, Kurt saw the face of his daughter. Her deep brown eyes were red and swollen, giving away the fact that she had been crying. Lizzie was shaking in her seat, shoulders trembling. Kurt moved to sit in the remaining seat next to his daughter, and Mrs. Offerfald spoke once more.

"Okay, Elizabeth. Do you want to explain why we're all here?" The principal tightly clasped her hands and laid them upon her gargantuan desk. Kurt turned towards Lizzie, unsure of whether to feel angry or worried. His daughter was clearly struggling to speak, and just as she was about to answer, Kurt heard a loud scoff behind him.

"We're here because she threw my son down a stairwell!" The woman's voice shook the room. "I want that little monster expelled! That thing has been distracting my son all year!"

Kurt went from shocked and angry at Liz to just plain angry at the other parent in the room. "My daughter's name is Elizabeth, not 'little monster' or 'that thing!'

The woman laughed, sounding remarkably like a hyena. "I'll call your daughter anything I like! Ben might never play sports again after the stunt she pulled!"

"Lizzie wouldn't have attacked him without reason! I know my child more than either of you, and she wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"Well," Mrs. Offerfald pushed up her glasses, and Kurt swore he saw a slight smirk. "The boy currently in the emergency room might disagree with that statement."

"I didn't mean to…" For the first time since Kurt arrived, he heard his daughter speak. He wasn't used to her being so quiet.

"DON'T PLAY INNOCENT AFTER WHAT YOU DID! MY BOY COULD HAVE DIED!"

"Either you stop screaming at my daughter, or we'll have issues." Kurt felt his voice run as cold as his blood in that moment, unnerving everyone present, even himself. "Lizzie, have you had the chance to explain what happened yet?"

"No, I haven't." Yet again, Lizzie was unusually quiet. Rather than face forward, she opted to look at her lap, not once lifting her head to see anyone, not even Kurt.

Mrs. Offerfald spoke once again, remarking, "Miss Anderson, we both know this isn't the first time you've been in this office, and I'm becoming quite tired of your antics."

"Wait," Kurt interrupted. "She's been to the principal's office before?"

That barely-there smirk appeared on the woman's face yet again. "Your daughter and I are well acquainted at this point. She's been causing trouble and picking fights all year."

"And this is the first time I'm hearing about it?"

"While irritating, her incidents of misconduct haven't been serious enough to warrant a parental visit." Her eyeglasses flashed with malice. "Until now, that is."

Kurt sighed, and asked, "Incidents such as?"

"I'm so glad you asked." Mrs. Offerfald said, in a sickly sarcastic tone. "Since September, she's yelled at several of her classmates, stolen personal items, spread rumors, and has thrown things at other students. Namely," She leaned forward on her desk. "Her ponytail and a bra."

"Expel her, for God's sake!" The mother piped up behind them, and Kurt had to fight the urge to strangle her.

"Did you ask her for her side of the story at all?" Kurt asked.

Confused, the principal asked, "What?"

"She wouldn't have done any of these things without a reason. Which student said these things about her?"

"Ben Ripley, the boy she injured today."

"Well, according to my daughter, and my younger son, this boy has been mistreating her this whole year."

The mother mumbled behind him, "Wow, a delinquent and a liar. What a combination!"

Kurt bristled and turned to yell at the woman, but Mrs. Offerfald spoke before he could. "Look, one thing is clear as day, your daughter seriously injured a classmate. We simply cannot have that in our school. Elizabeth," The principal turned to face Lizzie, who was now visibly shaking. "You are officially expelled from John F. Kennedy High School. You need to gather your things and leave school premises immediately."

Startling everyone one the room, Lizzie let out a loud sob and bolted out of the room. Kurt jumped out of his seat, sending it backwards, and ran after her. As he left, the woman's hyena laugh attacked his ears again. Once he was back in the hallway, Kurt whipped his head around, desperately trying to figure out where Liz had gone. Much to his relief, she had chosen to bolt in Michael's direction, who had managed to convince her to sit on the bench with him. Once Kurt was in earshot, Michael spoke.

"Having me sit this far away didn't do much, I could still hear a lot of it." While speaking, Michael had a hand on Lizzie's shoulder. "Call me a jerk, but I think it was a good thing that you were expelled. Now you can go to a school that doesn't treat you like garbage!"

This only resulted in Liz crying more. Michael flinched and started rubbing her shoulder, whispering an apology. Kurt sat down on the last open part of the bench and ran his hand through Lizzie's hair. She sniffled, and almost instantly leaned her full weight onto him, settling her head on Kurt's shoulder. He kissed the top of her head, and reassured her, "Everything's going to be alright. We'll talk more about it at home, okay?"

"Okay…"

"I remember hearing that your daughter needed to leave immediately after collecting her things?"

Kurt's blood pressure spiked after hearing the piercing voice of Mrs. Ripley once again. He turned his attention away from his upset child towards the woman. "She was just expelled, and she's clearly upset. I am asking you for the first and last time, leave us alone."

"You're lucky I'm not pressing charges against that girl! It's obvious she's unstable and dangerous, I mean, what kind of teenager mutilates themselves like that?" Mrs. Ripley pointed towards Liz's wrists, which were adorned with bandages.

Kurt couldn't remember the last time he had felt so angry at someone. His blood was on fire and all he saw was red. It took everything he had to not backhand the woman, and he fought himself to keep still. The last thing Liz needed was him assaulting someone on school property. Luckily, Michael snapped him out of his enraged trance.

"Ew! What kind of adult says something like that to a child?!" Kurt heard Michael exclaim behind him, sounding just as furious as he felt. Rather than waste more time on the woman, Kurt got up, turned, grabbed his two children, and made a beeline for the exit.

"But, my things!"

"Sweetie, you have your backpack on you right now."

"Oh, right."

As Kurt rushed out of the building, he heard the woman's hyena laugh one last time. "Good riddance!"

"Are you guys done talking to Michael?"

Kurt and Blaine raised their heads from where they were laying to see Liz's head poking around the corner of their doorway. She was holding a binder to her chest, so overflowing with paper that it was close to bursting. Liz adjusted it, only for it to fall apart, sending various papers skidding across the floor. She stammered, "Oh, no! I'm so sorry!"

Kurt quickly hopped off the bed and crouched down to help her pick everything up, and saw Blaine from the corner of his eye doing the same. Once everything had been put back in the binder, Kurt carefully put it on the desk Liz had been working at before.

"Hey, I need that, I'm working on my campaign!"

Blaine took Lizzie's face in his hands and reassured her, "You've been stressing about this since you got home from school. Relax!" He scrunched her face, making Liz laugh and try to wrestle away. Kurt foiled her escape attempt by wrapping his arms around her waist and nearly throwing her onto their bed. Liz shrieked and landed with a loud THUMP. What ensued was a short-lived tickle fight, with lots of giggling and squealing on Lizzie's part.

Suddenly, the three of them managed to hear the front door opening and closing, complete with a doorbell ring.

"I'm home!" A pause, then they heard Luke call out, "Where is everyone?"

Kurt, Blaine, and Liz paused in their fight, panting and giggling softly. Three pairs of eyes communicated the exact same evil plan.

Kurt called with a smile, "Bedroom!"

Sure enough, a few seconds later, the door was nudged open to reveal a very tired looking Luke, still wearing his green smock from work. "Why are you all here? Is Michael asleep?"

"Attack!"

Liz launched herself at Luke, tackling him and making him stumble backwards. She tried to tickle him, but he remained quiet, looking amused.

"Nice try, asshole."

"No, Lizzie." Blaine got up, half laughing. "You're not targeting the right spot. Here, I'll show you!"

"No, get away from me!" Luke sped off towards his room, with his parents and sister in hot pursuit. However, he smacked into the door, trying desperately to open it, with no luck. "Dude, open the door!"

Michael could be heard laughing in their room. "No, I don't really want to."

In the midst of Luke pounding his fist on the wooden door, Kurt saw Blaine maneuver a hand to the back of Luke's neck. As their son buckled with a strangled laugh, he yelled at the door,

"When I get in there, you're finished!"