A/N Hello everyone! Let me just say, I think this is my favorite fan fiction to write. The ideas just keep coming and it's easier to write. Now I feel like I just said which of my children is my favorite. Heh, heh. (-_-) Awkward.

Takes place during Furt: Direct from the show, my own

"It's nice to know that I have such great friends here," Kurt said. His gaze flickered towards Santana. She sent him a smile which he did not return. Instead he turned away and looked a little guilty. She frowned. What was wrong with him? He hadn't done anything. Well, not that Santana knew of.

"As well as a true brother," Kurt continued and looked at Finn who was sitting in the front row next to Berry.

Finn smiled and looked all proud of himself. Santana rolled her eyes and desperately fought the urge to slap his face off. Rachel gave him this sappy love-filled smile that made Santana want to puke.

"Which is why it's so hard for me to leave," Kurt continued. Santana's eyes tore away from the sickening sight and her mind stopped in its evil tracks of thinking of ways to burn Rachel's clothes. Her eyes widened, her heart pounded, and she couldn't see or think straight. She half heard Quinn ask what he meant and Kurt explaining and Tina saying that he couldn't leave and Finn asking if Kurt could talk to him about this. Her annoyance at him thinking Kurt was his dog or something was still there but not quite as strong because she felt the same way. She heard Sam and Puck's ideas to protect her friend and tried to nod and agree with the two but every part of her body suddenly felt as if it was made of lead and she couldn't move.

"Wait does this mean that you're going to be completing against us for Sectionals?" Rachel asked. Several people glared at her. Santana's anger snapped her out of her daze and she raised her hand, ready to squash that tiny insect once and for all.

Mercedes interrupted her by stepping forward and only saying 'Kurt'. Santana hated the betrayed look in Mercedes's eyes. She hadn't been close to Kurt since Burt's heart attack and Kurt met Blaine. Her possessiveness had come back and she hadn't paid any attention to what they were talking about. Even when Santana couldn't give two craps about what Kurt was saying, she still pretended to be interested. It allowed her to know more about Broadway than she'd care to admit. Aretha had no right to be hurt.

"I'm sorry," Kurt said, clutching his bag and taking a step back, "I have to go."

He sent a Santana a look before turning around walking out the door. She could tell by the way his shoulders slumped forward slightly, he was trying not to break down and cry right there and then.

Mr. Schue stood shell shocked for a moment before clearing his throat and saying a small voice. "I don't think we can rehearse with what's just happened. I think we should all just go home."

Everyone got up and moved slowly like they'd just been awakened from a deep sleep expect for Santana. It took her a moment to snap out of her daze but when she did, she grabbed her coat, bag, and music. She walked towards the door, stuffing the music in her bag as she went, and muttering under her breath in rapid Spanish.

The rest of the club members stared after her, wondering what had gotten into Santana. She stomped to her car and started her car, still muttering quietly and looking ready to kill.

"What the hell Hummel?" Santana asked, storming into Kurt's house as soon as he opened the door.

"Yes, Santana, please come in," Kurt said sarcastically. He rolled eyes as he closed the door.

Santana sat him down on the living room coach and stood over him. She began interrogating him but he kept his gaze trained carefully on his knees. This only angered her further.

"What the hell, Kurt?" she started, "Why would you leave us? What did we do wrong? Are we just not good enough for you anymore? You know, I really thought that we were better friends than that. You didn't even tell me! How could-"

"Shut up!" Kurt shouted, jumping to his feet and glaring at Santana with such hatred that she jumped back.

"You sound like Finn!" he said. Santana flinched at the comparison.

"I thought you were a better friend then that. I expected this from Finn and Mercedes. I thought that you would get that I wasn't safe."

"What did Karofsky do? The boys were right we can protect you!" she said. Gone was anger, replaced by desperation.

Kurt suddenly froze. He had actually forgotten that only a few people were aware of the seriousness of his situation. He thought that Finn might have filled everyone else in himself.

"He threatened to kill me," Kurt whispered before he could stop himself. He half-hoped that Santana hadn't heard him but he knew she had by the way she gasped.

"Where? Why? When? Oh God, why?" she pleaded.

Kurt looked at the girl in front of him and considered telling her the truth. The whole truth. He decided against it. He felt guilty enough when he realized that by asking for Blaine's help, he had already told a person Karofsky's secret. That was before his life was threatened though. Kurt didn't know why he kept telling Karofsky that he didn't tell anyone when he had.

"He said he'd kill me if I told anyone about the bullying. And the place, it was at school, right in the middle of a hallway." He concentrated on a dark spot on the carpet next to his right foot. He heard Santana gasp again.

"In a hallway? And no one noticed?" Her voice was a mixture of shock and disgust.

Kurt gave a dry laugh that made Santana jump. It was a scary noise.

"Notice? That's a funny joke Tana. No one ever notices the pathetic little gay boy getting bullied. That's just the circle of life. The best thing I can do is just run away. The boys won't protect me; they're too busy with relationships. Really Rachel was the one who actually said why she didn't want me to leave. Everyone just cares that you need me for Sectionals. I should've left a long time ago."

Santana wasn't sure exactly when she got up and walked towards Kurt but the next thing she knew she was standing in front of him and had her hands on his shoulders.

"Don't you ever talk like that. The rest of the world might see us as little and pathetic but we can't give into it. It doesn't have to be the circle of life for anyone," Santana said, shaking his shoulders slightly for emphasis.

Kurt looked up at her, his eyes sparkling with unshed tears. He was amazed by what she said but it wasn't that she said that he was better than that; it was when she used personal pronouns. 'Us', 'we', she was finally identifying herself as gay even if it was only around Kurt. He was so proud of her.

"You inspire me, Kurt. I want you to be safe. If that means going to Dalton Academy and singing against us then so be it, but don't think for one-second that you're being a coward or that the only thing you can do is run away because, Kurt, you are so much better than that. I know we've heard that a ton of times from tons of people but that doesn't make it any less true," Santana was crying now and Kurt was too.

"I can't go back to being terrified all the time," he whispered.

Santana nodded. "I know," she said, "I know. I said that I want you to be safe and happy. I hope you make tons of friends at Dalton."

He smiled at her but it was a sad one. "I know that there's a no bullying policy but I'm scared of not fitting in. If I didn't know Blaine, I wouldn't go at all."

"I get it," Santana said, "I mean in high school that's all that really matters."

Kurt nodded and looked up at Santana. He had sort of excited glint in his eyes that Santana was happy to see. "Want to know what I'm really excited for?"

"What?" she asked, leaning in.

"I'm excited to see how far the populars in high school fall. I know that some of them will go amazing places like you, Quinn, Sam, and Brittany. I think that it's because you have something to grounded, that thing is glee club. You have something that lets you know that it's high school, not your kingdom. I'm excited to watch the people who think that they're the kings and queens to fall after high school. I can't wait for them to realize that where you rank in high school doesn't matter in the real world. Reality is best served cold which is why I propose that right we graduate and are ready to leave for the best arts school in New York, we should slushy all the jocks!"

Santana laughed at the childlike, wild excitement in Kurt's eyes. "Sounds like a plan," she said.

"Do you need any help packing for Dalton?" she asked. She looked around the living room and realized that there were boxes that Kurt had been packing for when him and his dad moved into the new house with Finn and his mom.

Kurt nodded. They went downstairs to his basement bedroom. Unsurprisingly, his room was the most packed and the neatest.

"I just need to finish with my desk and closet," he said, "just throw everything into these boxes."

He started to turn around and pack but then he turned around and held up his pointer finger. "Let me rephrase that: Carefully place everything into these boxes."

Santana rolled her eyes and nodded. They worked in silence for a while, only speaking when Santana had a question as to where things went or to tease him about the sheer amount of clothing in his closet. As she dug through the extensive closet she found a box. It was small, probably an old shoe box. It was decorated with different colors and stickers.

"What's this?" she asked.

Kurt looked up from his desk. "Oh that old thing? It's just a box I like to keep important things in. Pictures, books, drawings, that kind of stuff. It can just go in there," he said, pointing at a bigger box. He turned around and continued sorting things into piles on his desk.

Santana was ready to put the box away when her curiosity got the best of her. She opened the box carefully and looked at its contents. For the most part it was just old birthday cards and pictures. There were pictures of him when he was little and a few other little kids. There were souvenirs from trips, drawings, feathers, and shells. She saw pictures of Kurt next to a lake. He was crouched down, looking at something in the muddy sand. She chuckled quietly at how small Kurt didn't mind getting dirty. There was also brochures from community plays, concerts, a zoo, (She wondered if this was the same zoo he visited before his mom died. And if it was, why would he keep the brochure?) and a brochure thing from his mom's funeral, those ones that you hand out that say things about their lives. Her picture was on the front. Santana had seen a few pictures of Elizabeth Hummel but it never failed amaze her how much Kurt and his mom looked alike. Not necessarily in a weird way, but they were both really pale and they both had the small color brown hair. The only difference was their eyes. Elizabeth's were a warm brown and, although it may sound like a bad Harry Potter reference, Kurt's eyes were closer to Burt's blue ones. He still didn't have Burt's eyes, they were uniquely his own, and they were beautiful.

Santana put everything back quietly and closed the box. She got up and turned around, ready to put it in the box and hope Kurt wouldn't notice, but Kurt was standing right behind her. She gasped in surprise and dropped the box but Kurt caught it as it left her hands.

"Getting nosy are we?" Kurt said, not looking angry, thank God, but smug. He knew how much Santana hated it when he won.

"Asshole, you scared the crap out of me!" she said.

Kurt laughed. "Language Satan," he reprimanded.

She rolled her eyes and looked everywhere but Kurt's eyes. "Did you like it?" Kurt asked suddenly, sounding a little sad.

Santana turned to look at him, and he was looking at the box fondly. She nodded but remembered he wasn't looking at her. "Yes, I did," she said.

Kurt sat down on the ground and Santana followed suit. "I haven't looked in this forever," Kurt said.

He looked through the pictures slowly, laughing at the silly ones and explaining the stories behind certain others.

"My family rented a cabin on a lake," he said, referring to the picture of him exploring in the sand, "I found two snail shells and I was convinced that I would be the most successful shell collector in the world. This was me looking for some more on the beach."

Santana laughed lightheartedly. She could picture telling anyone he could see about his huge dreams. "I'm just surprised you let yourself get that dirty."

Kurt shrugged. "I don't care if I get dirty so long as my clothes are safe. I work around grease and oil all the time anyway," he said.

He got up and grabbed a stack of papers. "I want to keep these pictures and cards somewhere safe, I know the perfect place."

A/N I realize I write a lot about Kurt's mom. I hope you like my interpretation of her. I'm so excited for the Christmas episode because the spoilers said we're going to find out about Kurt's mom! *high pitched fangirl squeal* YEEEEPPPPP! Reviews are Love (^_^)

Peace, Love, Glee

Julez