Kurt wasn't surprised to see Blaine looking miserable when he walked into home room the next morning. He was upset, but not surprised, to see that Blaine's eyes were tried, red and puffy. He was just relieved to see that he had no new bruises or other injuries. He was surprised, however, at the reason why.
"Leaving the Warblers?" Kurt exclaimed in shock, before being hastily shushed by his friend. "But you can't," he said, in more hushed tones. "We need you for Regionals!"
"Believe me, Kurt, I want this even less than you do," Blaine frowned, "but if I didn't quit, my dad said he would pull me out of Dalton." There was something that Kurt had never seen before in Blaine's eyes, and it looked a lot like fear. Kurt had felt that expression often enough on his own face. "If I went back there, after all this?" He shook his head. "They'd kill me."
Kurt nodded understandingly. "But surely, your dad doesn't want you dead."
Blaine shrugged, and such a hopeless movement broke Kurt's heart. "I don't think he ever realised how bad it truly was. And it doesn't help that he thinks I deserved it."
Swallowing, Kurt asked, "what about your mum?"
It looked for a second that Blaine was about to laugh. "She point blank refuses to accept that any such thing's happening. I mean, if there's no reason for your kid to be bullied, you ignore the bruises, right?" Blaine raised his eyebrows despairingly. "My only option's to improve my grade as quickly as possible and rejoin the Warblers before you start to miss me," he said, his optimism clearly forced. "It'll be fine." Somehow, Kurt didn't think the assurance was for him.
The after school Warblers meeting felt very empty without Blaine squished up on the sofa next to him, even if it did allow him extra breathing room.
Oddly, Wes didn't mention Blaine's absence; Kurt assumed that Blaine must have already informed him of the situation. Hugo, however, glanced at the gap between him and Kurt when Kurt shuffled up to give him some extra space. "Hey, where's Blaine?" he asked.
Kurt shook his head. "He's..." He wondered whether Blaine would mind Kurt spreading the news. "Family emergency," he said finally.
Hugo frowned. "Oh, that sucks."
Kurt nodded, and took a wine gum when Hugo offered him the packet.
Stefan frowned when he looked over to see Blaine's empty space, but was silenced by a look from Hugo.
The meeting crawled by without Blaine there. Kurt ended up checking the time every five minutes. By the time it ended, Kurt had sworn to himself that he would spend twenty-four hours a day tutoring Blaine if it would get him back into the Warblers.