Author's Note: Hello again. Sorry this took a while to update… I've been quite busy lately! Anyway, I hope you like this next chapter. Feel free to review, as always, and thank you a million times to those who have already. :)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the show Glee.

~Chapter 9: Nightmares~

The pounding bass rang in Blaine's ears with the drum of his heart. He was surrounded by darkness, a terrible, lonely, midnight that constricted around him like a coiled snake. Worst of all, he felt defenseless, detached from his body. Utterly vulnerable.

"Blaine?"

I didn't mean it.

"Blaine? God, Blaine, what happened? What are you doing in here?"

Help him.

"Honey, please." He could feel his mother's presence beside him, though the darkness in his room made it hard to make out the expression on her face. She raised her voice just high enough to let it be heard over the angry noise blasting from the stereo. "What did you do?"

All Blaine could feel was his own body trembling. He couldn't speak; he couldn't think.

"Help him."

Hands on his shoulders. Fearful, dark eyes meeting his own. "Help who? Please, Blaine, you're scaring me."

It was as if every molecule of air had been stolen from his lungs. He gasped, chest heaving, collapsing…

He deserved to drown like this.

"Blaine!"

"Dad. Down the back staircase." Blaine wasn't sure where he had found the words. How had things gone so wrong so quickly? How could he have made so many mistakes in one night? "I'm sorry."

"He fought with you again."

"Yes."

"Is he hurt?"

Blaine couldn't answer. He doubled over again, lost, drowning, drowning…

Help.

"Shit. Blaine, why didn't you take care of him? How bad is it?"

Help.

"Never mind." His mother stood up quickly, already heading for the door. Blaine sensed how torn she was, her voice betraying something between fear and concern, anger and sympathy. "I'll deal with it. Don't move. I'm sure he'll be alright. Just… just stay here."

Help.

Help him.

"Please," Blaine choked into the nothingness. The panic coursing through him felt like ice in his veins. How much time had passed since his father had struck that last blow at the top of the staircase that sent Blaine over his breaking point? How long since he had lost control, watched his father falling, and then hidden from it all like a scared little boy?

Had he left him to die? Had he killed his own father?

"Please help me."

Blaine.

"I didn't mean to-"

Blaine.

"I-"

"Blaine, wake up!"

Blaine's eyes flew open as he sprang back into consciousness. He gasped for breath, quickly becoming aware of the fact that he was in an unfamiliar place, drenched in a cold sweat, and shaking violently. Everything felt so strange.

"Blaine?"

In the darkness, Blaine turned and met Kurt's gaze. His eyes were wide, concerned, shining with the moonlight that streamed in through the bedroom window. Just a dream, he thought, and then shuddered when he realized it hadn't been... not really.

"Are you alright?" Kurt asked softly, pressing refreshingly cool fingertips to Blaine's cheek.

Blaine hesitated. He'd had this flashback so many times before… and yet, waking up here, with someone else beside him to see what happened was a different experience entirely.

"Y-yeah, I'm f-fine," Blaine managed quietly, staring down to avoid Kurt's eyes. He had never told anyone what had taken place in those long, awful hours just after the incident with his father. And the dream… the reality of it had been a moment shared only between him and his mother. It was something he knew he would never forgive himself for, something he had always bottled up inside and dreaded.

"You're so pale," Kurt said. He bit his lip. "Do you have nightmares like this a lot?"

Shaking his head, Blaine hugged his arms to his chest and took a deep breath to steady himself. "I… only sometimes. They're just… memories."

Comprehension flashed in Kurt's eyes, and he moved to let Blaine lean into him. It felt good to be supported, to have someone else present to carry his burdens with him. Blaine hadn't realized how heavy they were until they were too much for him to hold onto alone.

"You don't have to tell me anything…" Kurt said. "But if it helps to talk about it, I won't judge you."

Blaine felt an ache inside of him gnawing at his heart. He had never known a person to be so caring and accepting; surely he didn't deserve to be on the receiving end of it. "I think about that night a lot," Blaine admitted. "The night I hurt my dad… it's always stuck with me. I'd like to shake it off and move on, but..."

Kurt nodded slowly, his cheek brushing the top of Blaine's head.

"I feel like such a coward."

"You're not, Blaine," Kurt replied. He sounded so sure… but then, he only knew half the story. "It was brave of you to stand up to him, even if it didn't turn out perfectly in the end. It's okay. Really."

Blaine scoffed under his breath. "I'd barely call what I did 'standing up to him.' I just freaked out and-"

"Please, Blaine… stop," Kurt interjected suddenly, his voice achingly sympathetic. "Please. You're blaming yourself for something you couldn't change. You don't have to feel like this."

The way those words touched Blaine's heart was beyond him entirely. No one had ever tried to reassure him about that night before. When all he had wanted was to know that it wasn't really his fault, everyone had just kept quiet. No one had been around to hold him when he got scared. No one had offered a shoulder to cry on when his regrets became too much to handle.

Blaine already knew that he could depend on Kurt. Trust was not something that he found himself coming into contact with very often, and now there were a million emotions taking over, so many feelings Blaine didn't recognize. Kurt… Kurt was everything he needed. And somehow, he actually seemed to want Blaine in return. How was it that he could already feel so much for this boy, when in fact they had only just met? "I think I'm falling in love with you."

Blaine had certainly not planned on saying that. And yet, there it was, out in the open. It also happened to be a statement that he couldn't help but to accept as true. Kurt meant the world to him, and, whether or not it made sense, he honestly did believe that the two of them shared something special.

Kurt inhaled sharply beside him. "Blaine…" he answered, voice wavering a little.

Love was a strong word- Kurt wondered if he dare venture into that sort of territory. He felt a lot for Blaine… a lot, more than he had ever imagined he would. But did that mean they were ready for something like this?

"I just… I trust you," Blaine explained softly, intertwining his fingers with Kurt's and holding his gaze. "I feel like I've known you forever." He paused to bite his lip. "That sounds silly, I know."

"No," Kurt answered. He knew exactly how Blaine felt. The trouble was that he had put up far too many walls to let anyone in so quickly. Kurt knew what it felt like to be humiliated, to be hurt, to be rejected… and, consequentially, he had learned not to take the sort of risks that could cause such awful pain. Still, he didn't have the heart to push Blaine away, especially considering that he cared about him so much. "It makes sense. I… I'm really glad you're here. I mean, not because of what happened with your dad, but I'm glad you let me help you. And… I like spending time with you. A lot." Kurt smiled shyly, hoping his response made at least some sense to Blaine.

"I like spending time with you, too." Blaine smiled, leaning in just slightly to press his lips to Kurt's hairline. "We should keep doing that."

"I'd like that."

Blaine's breath caught as Kurt moved closer to nuzzle into his chest. It seemed they fit perfectly together- almost too perfectly, Blaine thought. The fact that neither one of them had much experience with relationships made it all a little scary… yet, there was a connection between them, an almost magnetic force pulling them steadily closer. Things were changing, hopefully for the better.

Maybe it was time for some walls to come down.