Sorry this is so short I have an AN at the bottom for those who are interested.

Chapter 3

"No Kurt"

"But Dad-"

"I said no." Burt hated the idea of Kurt returning to McKinley and he was protesting Kurt's suggestion vehemently. "That boy, that Karofsky kid, he's still there. Nothing about that situation has changed. It's not going to be any different if you return. You told me how bad it was, how much you needed to leave. We got you that. Are you really just going to throw it all away?"

"No! Dad that's not what I'm trying to say at all. I know what you and Carol did for me, what you guys gave up, and I appreciate it so much but things aren't that simple anymore." Kurt let out a frustrated huff and dragged a hand through his hair. He'd known this wasn't going to be easy but his Father had barely let him get a word in edgewise since he'd first brought the subject up half an hour ago.

"What's so complicated? You weren't safe when you were there and now you are. Why would you ever want to go back?" Burt couldn't understand why Kurt was being so insistent all of a sudden. Yes, he knew that Kurt missed his friends and felt bad about 'running away' but nothing had changed from when Kurt left. Karofsky was still there. He'd thought Kurt was fitting in well at his new school, had Kurt lied? He'd met some of Kurt's friends from there so he didn't think so. Why was the boy suddenly pushing so hard for this? It didn't make any sense!

"It's not just about me anymore Dad." Kurt insisted, taking advantage of his Father's question to make his point. "The Jocks found out about Santana. So now she's there, alone, being forced to deal with all of that every day." Kurt took a deep breath to calm himself. His Dad had never really known what Kurt had been forced to deal with everyday, sure Burt had suspected, but Kurt had always tried to gloss over the details so his Father wouldn't worry about him so much. Now his former silence was coming back to bite him in the ass and he only hoped he could get his Father to understand just how much Santana needed him without making Burt freak out over the situation even more. "No matter what they did to me I've always had you to support me." He caught his Father's gaze, "Because of that, because I had you, I could handle it all. No matter what they said, stupid pranks they pulled, or how many times they dismissed me as a human being I could deal with it."

"Santana doesn't have any of that." He swallowed harshly but pressed forward. "From what little I know of them her family is dismissive at the best of times. She hasn't come out to them yet and even if she did it's unlikely they'll stand by her like you always have for me. The only friends she has are the kids in Glee and while they can try to stop the other kids from trying anything…physical they've never really understood just how much the other stuff can hurt." His father looked like he was going to interrupt him so Kurt barreled on. "Going through that every day is hard. I'm worried about her. She needs a support system and right now she just doesn't have one, not really, if I was there for her then at least we could deal with it together. Having someone else there who understands will keep her from doing anything….stupid." He saw the understanding of what he wasn't saying fill his Father's eyes. They had only ever talked about suicide once before, when Kurt was thirteen, there had been some special on TV about it and Burt had sat him down and firmly told him that he loved Kurt very much and all but begged Kurt to never take that path, telling him that he couldn't bear loosing Kurt. Kurt had taken that to heart but he knew enough about both the high rate of suicides amongst GLBT teens and the exact type of harassment Santana was facing that he was terrified of the possibility that she might give into that horrible temptation.

Just looking at his Father's face Kurt could tell he'd won. Burt's eyes where resigned and the anger had completely left his expression. 'Is it really that bad?' Burt's eyes asked but he didn't voice the question as just looking at Kurt's face gave him his answer. Burt knew his son wouldn't be so determined to do this if it wasn't the truth.

"I can't just leave her there alone Dad. I can't. I would never be able to live with the guilt if something awful happened to her, whether by her own hand or someone else's, just because I was afraid of getting a bruise or too trying to help her out. Those stupid Neanderthals are tormenting her on a daily basis! You're the one who always told me that men should treat women with respect and that any man who raised a hand to one is a coward and a lout, but most of those morons don't care. When I saw her earlier her arm was already turning colors from where one of them had knocked her into a locker. It's not right, not because she's gay and defiantly not when she's even smaller than me! I know you don't like the idea of me going back but I'm willing to suffer a few bruises if it keeps her from having too. I know it won't be perfect but at least between the two of us, and with some help from the other glee kids, we'll have a better chance of looking out for each other, or defending each other if those jerks try to take things too far."

"You really sure about this Kurt? I don't like it. I don't like it at all. Neither of you should even be having to put up with this crap. I wish the rest of the world was more like that school you're giving up."

Kurt sighed along with his father, he wished for that too, but wishing wasn't going to make much of a difference right now. He'd finally gotten his father to see his point but the man hadn't given in just yet, he knew his dad still hated the idea, hated allowing Kurt to just walk into danger, even if it was for a friend, and so was still making token protests as to prevent it. "Dalton has been lovely, it really has, but we have to face the fact that unfortunately that's not the way most of the world works and it's not an option for Santana in any case."

"This really isn't about me. I'm not looking forward to the treatment I'll get if I go back there but this isn't just my pride forcing me to face those bullies. This is about being there for a friend, so she isn't forced to face them alone."

Burt opened his mouth to say something else but Kurt cut him off with an imploring look and a soft but firm "Dad. Please. I have to do this." Burt closed his mouth and took in the look on his son's face. He knew that look, that tone of voice, Kurt had decided and no one was going to change his mind, he had already accepted the consequences that came along with this decision and nothing would sway him from following it through; it strongly reminded him of Kurt's mother back when she had told her parents that she and Burt planned to get married and they were keeping their baby. Nothing would change her mind then and nothing would change Kurt's now, he just hoped that Kurt would make it through this alright, and that his own worst nightmares wouldn't come to pass.

He wouldn't survive having to bury his son.

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AN: Ok so this has actually been sitting on my dash for several months now by I didn't post it because I was hoping to have more than just the scene between Kurt and his dad to give you. Unfortunately however my muses seem to have abandoned me for the time being. I AM NOT giving up on this fic but it may be quite a while before you see any updates unless my muses decide to return.

Admittedly I was very spontaneous when in posting the first chapter of this story (doing so only hours after its completion) when I usually take months or years of deliberation before posting anything longer than a drabble. The plot of it still hasn't really formed for me yet beyond the most basic idea of an Epic Kurtana friendship, I do have some ideas for things in the future however managing to get there without turning this into another drabble series is giving me some trouble.

If anyone feels like flinging some ideas at me I am currently open to suggestions for possible future scenarios. I'm truly hoping that something (it could be just about anything at this point) will spark my muses for this fic into returning ~glares at the conspicuously empty place where Kurt and Santana should be.~

However in the meantime you might actually begin to see some of my other multi-chapter fics show up on this sight; most of those aren't Glee related (most were started long before that show even came on the air) instead involving HP or various anime and include a LOT of crossovers…maybe. I'm a procrastinator at the best of times and I still need to actually type most of them up (they're all scribbled in notebooks) so it might take me awhile. We'll see.