They dragged their suitcases until they reached a house that appeared to be unoccupied. The two boys sank down on the back porch to get out of the rain.
"What are we going to do?" Blaine moaned.
"Well, we can't sleep out in the rain."
"Thanks for that, genius."
"Well, sorry!" Kurt folded his arms. "I'm not the one who decided to leave in the middle of a thunderstorm."
"You agreed!"
"I know. Sorry. That was mean."
"I'm sorry too," Blaine said. "I shouldn't have snapped at you." He rubbed his temple, trying to think. "We could call your dad," he suggested.
"What can he do?" Kurt said. "He's all the way in Ohio."
"I don't know! It was just a suggestion." He sighed in frustration. "I should stop doing stuff before I think about it properly."
"It was the right decision. We wouldn't have felt safe staying at your house." Kurt shuddered, thinking of the look in Mr Anderson's icy grey eyes.
Blaine sat up suddenly. "Ooh! Idea!"
"Yes?" Kurt said.
"We could stay with Katie and Anna!"
"Katie?" Kurt said doubtfully.
"Sure! We're friends, right?"
"Yeah, but we barely know them. I don't know if they'd be willing to take us in. We haven't even met their parents."
"What choice do we have?" Blaine asked. "We don't really know anyone else."
Kurt was sure he'd regret it, but he agreed.
Anna had pointed out the house they were staying in once, so at least they knew where it was. They walked a few streets down, and stood looking up at the house.
"So what do we do? Just knock on the door?" Blaine asked.
"I don't know! This was your idea," Kurt said.
Blaine leaned down and picked up a stone.
"Wait-"
He threw it so that it tapped lightly on one of the windows on the second floor.
"This is totally insane," Kurt moaned. "You don't even know if that was the right window!"
Blaine shrugged. "Too late now."
They waited a few moments, hoping that they hadn't woken the girls' parents.
Then the window opened and Katie poked her head out. She looked around and spotted them staring hopefully up at the window.
"What the hell are you guys doing?" she hissed. "You aren't propositioning me or something, are you? I thought you were gay…" She tended to use long words when she was flustered.
"No! Can you just come down here? We need to talk to you," they said desperately.
She closed the window, and Kurt's heart sank. "What do we do now?"
Blaine looked defeated, and slumped down onto the ground.
"So? What's up?" The voice came from behind them.
The two boys spun around. "How did you get there?"
She smiled. "I have my ways."
There was silence for a moment, then she said, "Why don't you guys come under the porch? You look soaked." She noticed their suitcases. "And why have you brought all your stuff?"
"That's what we need to talk to you about," Kurt said.
They sat down at the table on the porch, and Katie sat across from them, looking expectant. "So? Tell."
Blaine began to talk very fast. "So they went out and then they came back and my dad saw us kissing and he kicked us out-"
She held up a hand, looking concerned. "Wait. Slow down. Your dad kicked you out? Why?"
Kurt decided he might be more coherent. "Blaine's parents went out for the day and left us alone. They came back earlier than we expected, and his dad saw us kissing. He didn't know we were together, and he doesn't accept that Blaine's gay, so he got really angry and kicked us out."
"Just because you were kissing? That seems really extreme."
"Actually, we chose to leave," Blaine corrected her.
"I'm a little confused."
"He wouldn't accept us, so we decided to leave. Before we'd thought it through very well…"
"I'm starting to see why you came to me."
"Yeah."
"You need a place to stay, right?"
"Sorry," Blaine said. "This is really rude of us, I realize."
"Under the circumstances, I don't mind. It might be hard to convince my parents though."
"Wait, you're okay with it?"
"Of course! You're my friends," she said.
"Thank you," Kurt said sincerely.
"Wait here," she told them.
They waited nervously while she went inside and woke up her parents. They heard raised voices, but she came back out a few minutes later.
"I explained what happened, and they said you can stay in the loft."
"Really?" Kurt was surprised that her parents had agreed. "You must be very convincing."
She shrugged. "They trust me. I don't do stuff that they object to most of the time, so they usually agree to things that are important to me."
The two boys went inside and thanked her parents.
"We couldn't let you stay out in the rain after what you've been through," her mother said.
"I'll show you up to the loft," Katie said.
As they walked upstairs, Kurt realized that they hadn't seen Anna. "Where's your sister?"
"She went to stay with Ellie for the night."
The house was similar to the one they had been staying in, with several bedrooms and a loft instead of an attic. She set up a couple of beds on the couches in the loft.
"I hope you guys'll be comfortable enough. I'm really sorry for what happened to you."
"It's not your fault!" Blaine said.
"It still makes me sad though. I've heard about this sort of stuff but it's never happened to anyone I knew."
They said goodnight to her and turned out the light.
Kurt felt scared, wondering what they'd do for the rest of the time they were supposed to be spending here, and how they would get home.
He was absorbed in his own thoughts, until he heard Blaine trying to muffle his sobs on the other couch. He got up and cradled his boyfriend. Blaine clung to him, and Kurt's heart was breaking to see him like this. Then Kurt thought of a beautiful song that he'd heard Blaine listening to once. He began to sing softly,
I've been down for far too long
Till my faith was nearly gone
I never knew somebody just like you
Could be a friend I could call my own
Blaine quieted a little, listening to the song. It wasn't the sort of thing Kurt usually listened to, and it made him happy to think that Kurt had remembered it after he'd played it in the car.
Till I let go of a broken heart
I let go to an open heart
I let go of my broken dreams
I let go to the mystery
And I believe in the miracle
I believe in the spiritual
I believe in the one above
I believe in the one I love
He knew that Kurt didn't believe in God, but even after all he'd been through, Blaine still thought there was someone watching over him. After all, he'd found Kurt, hadn't he?
I take one step closer to you
I just take one step closer to you
Even when I'm falling down
My heart says follow through
I take one step closer to you
I never meant to hurt you, no
And you never meant to hurt me too
But it seems like we always do
And even though I'm scared sometimes
If I ever see you fallen down
I'll be the one that's there for you
Kurt hugged him closer.
So I let go of a broken heart
I let go to an open heart
I let go of my broken dreams
I let go to the mystery
And I believe in the miracle
I believe in the spiritual
I believe in the one above
I believe in the one I love
And take one step closer to you
"Keep on walking sweet baby," Blaine sang, knowing the song by heart.
I just take one step closer to you
Even when I'm falling down
My heart says follow through
"I take one step closer to you…"
I just take one step closer to you
I just take one step closer to you
I keep on walking to you, I'm walking
I keep on walking to you, I'm walking
I keep on walking to you, I'm walking
And I'm never going to stop, now
Even when I'm falling down
My heart says follow through
I'll take one step closer
I'll take two steps closer
Just take one step closer to you
And even when I'm falling down
My heart says follow through
I just take one step closer to you
"Keep on walking sweet baby…"
And Kurt kept holding on to Blaine until they both fell asleep, safe in each other's arms.
Author's Note: The song is "One Step Closer to You" by Michael Franti (with Pink on backing vocals! Yay!) and you can listen to it here www. yout ube .com/watch?v=B4RaRv S8qq0 (take out the spaces). The original singer's voice is quite different to Kurt's, but I think he could pull it off. He's cool like that. ;) I considered using "Not Alone" which would also fit the situation, but I decided to be a rebel and use another one of my favourite songs. Hope you like the chapter. Please read and review!