Blaine would never admit it, but sometimes his ankle injury got the best of him. His freshman year, after getting attacked at his school's Sadie Hawkins dance, he was left with a severely broken ankle that still bothered him, even now in his junior year. Whether it was an overcomplicated dance routine, a sudden shift in the weather, or just a misstep while hurrying down the stairs between classes, sometimes he was forced to relive the horror of that night.

Of course, he didn't dare tell Kurt about it. His boyfriend knew about the Sadie Hawkins disaster, but Blaine never went into detail with him. Not even as he limped from class to class that day, trying to ignore the uncomfortable throbbing, did he explain what was the root of the problem. Glee rehearsal from the day before had left him sore, and his bad ankle stiff. Not even an ice pack, an evening of rest, and his mother's cooking could help.

"You're still walking funny," Kurt pointed out at his locker. "If you would just go to the nurse, she can give you some Advil and let you put ice on it."

Blaine shook his head stubbornly. "It's fine. I didn't even twist it or anything. It's just sore; I'll be okay by tomorrow."

Kurt shot him a dubious look before they moved on down the hall to stop at Blaine's locker. The two of them shared a European History class, and always walked together.

Before Blaine could even reach his hallway, he found himself at the mercy of a large pair of hands, and was thrown against a row of lockers in an instant. The breath was knocked out of his lungs, and he couldn't even see who did it, due to the fact that he had fallen over, and his ankle was screaming in pain.

Blaine reached down for it, praying that it wasn't broken again, and Kurt rushed to help him.

"Oh my gosh, Blaine! Are you okay?" he panicked, trying to help him up. Blaine let Kurt try to help him back on his feet, but the familiar pain shot up his leg, and he doubled over, Kurt supporting nearly all of his weight.

"I'm fine," he hissed, clenching his teeth. Kurt helped him stand up straight again, and Blaine leaned on him for support. By then, the second bell had rung and the hallways were deserted. "Just help me walk to class. It'll be better after I sit down for awhile."

Blaine didn't believe his own words; he was just trying to reassure Kurt that he was okay. However, after trying to take just one tiny step towards the history hallway, it became evident that something was very wrong with his ankle.

"We're going to the nurse," Kurt said firmly. "You can't walk around like this for the rest of the day."

Blaine knew Kurt was right, but he didn't say anything as they slowly made their way down to the nurse's station. Kurt brought him in and forced him to lie down on one of the cots while he went into the nurse's private office to get her. Blaine covered his eyes with his arm and tried his hardest to ignore the annoying pins and needles feeling that made everything worse.

"Oh, honey, it looks like you took a tumble," the woman said, sitting down to look at his leg. The nurse was older, almost old enough to be Blaine's grandma. She adjusted her glasses and slowly pulled his shoe off. Blaine instinctively reached for Kurt's hand, even though he didn't want him to worry.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" the nurse pressed further. Blaine winced as she gingerly moved his foot.

"Someone pushed me into the lockers and I fell on my ankle," Blaine explained. He wasn't afraid in the slightest to admit that he was being bullied; it was evident that the McKinley staff could care less about it.

"Hmm, it looks pretty bruised," she said, examining it closely while simultaneously trying to minimalize how much she moved it. "Have you ever injured it before?"

"Uh, yeah," Blaine confessed. "Two years ago. It got broken pretty badly."

The nurse nodded, and Kurt looked down at Blaine, surprised. "I didn't know that."

"We'll talk about it later," Blaine said quickly, not wanting to explain in front of her.

"You're surprisingly calm," the nurse noted. "That's a good thing, though. If it were broken I think you'd be in a lot more pain. Can you try to move it?" Blaine obeyed hesitantly, but couldn't even lift his leg on his own. He shook his head, defeated.

"It's okay," the nurse assured him. "I can call your mom to take you and have it checked out by a doctor. We'll put some ice on it and keep it elevated until she's able to come, okay?"

Blaine nodded and thanked her. After she got him situated and gave him one too many Tylenol pills, she retreated back to her office to let Blaine's mom know he was hurt. The nurse let Kurt stay with him so he wouldn't be lonely, and he sat next to Blaine, devoted to holding his hand and making sure he had everything he needed and was comfortable.

"What happened with your ankle a few years ago?" Kurt finally asked. Blaine had been avoiding the topic for as long as he could, and still didn't really want to talk about it.

"It happened at the Sadie Hawkins dance freshman year," Blaine explained. "It was hurting after glee yesterday, and that locker shove just hurt it again."

Kurt looked surprised, like that wasn't what he expected Blaine to say at all. "Oh, Blaine… I didn't know. What happened… then?"

"I broke my ankle and some ribs, and had to have surgery," Blaine informed him. "I'm completely fine now, except when my ankle tries to bother me again."

Kurt nodded, even though Blaine knew he couldn't fully understand. His lingering ankle pain served as a constant reminder of that terrible night, and as much as he wanted to move on, he knew he never fully could.

Neither of them said much after that, and Blaine's mother showed up shortly after. Kurt helped him up and all the way to his car, with promises that he would come by after school to make sure he was doing okay. Blaine wished he could have come too- even though Blaine couldn't change his past, he was thankful he had found someone like Kurt who accepted it.

Author's Notes:

I always wished the show would go deeper into Blaine's story of what happened at that Sadie Hawkins dance. I'm pretty sure every fanfiction writer has a headcanon about it since we're so curious! I wrote my take on it a few months ago, you can find that oneshot on my profile (it's called Prom Queen if you want to check it out).