"Please tell me that's not Tina again," Kurt said, letting go of Blaine's arms.

Despite everything, Blaine had to laugh.

"I'm afraid it is, Sir," he said, rubbing his wrists, immediately missing Kurt's grip on him. But Kurt hugged him from behind and held him close, and contentedly, he leaned into the embrace.

"May I talk to her, Sir?" he asked.

"Of course, if you want to. If you feel up to it, considering...the state of your pants, among other things. We could also run to the car and drive away very quickly."

"Tempting. But I think I should - Hi, Tina."

He pulled her into a short hug, happy to feel Kurt's arms around him again immediately afterwards, and then folded his hands awkwardly in front of his crotch. He could feel his come drying, making his skin itch, but there was nothing he could do about it. Which was doubtlessly part of Kurt's plan - though probably not like this.

"What are you doing here?" Tina asked, and they talked for a bit, a little awkwardly as if Tina knew that her presence was very much unwanted.

Blaine was sad about that. She was his friend and coworker, and yet he hadn't been happy to see her in what seemed like forever, always afraid of any questions she might ask that would force him to tell even more lies. He had come to resent her inquisitive nature, as all of his other friends seemed quite content to let his relationship be his business. He imagined her seeing him the way he stood there, with his bloody-bitten lips, the stain on his pants neither his hands nor the dim light of the parking lot could completely obscure, and the way he practically relied on Kurt to hold him upright, and knew she would start asking questions soon. Questions he would have no way to answer, not without lying, and he'd start avoiding her, and then he'd...He'd lose her, he realized. He would lose her friendship, unless...

He touched her arm, interrupting her. "I have to talk to Kurt alone for a moment. Wait for me, okay?"

At her confused nod, he drew Kurt to the side, and started talking quietly.

"I want to tell her, Sir. About the nature of our relationship. She won't stop asking questions I can't answer, and...I don't want to lose her. May I, Sir?"

Kurt gently rubbed his arms while he thought about it. The gesture was enough to calm him a little; still, he waited anxiously for Kurt's answer, though he didn't know what he wanted it to be - though he wanted to tell Tina, he didn't really want to tell Tina.

"Can you trust her not to talk about it?" Kurt finally asked, and Blaine nodded.

"I think so. I know you haven't really had the best impression of her, but she's...she's a good friend."

"Then you should do it. Do you want me with you?"

Blaine smiled wryly. "I really do, Sir, but...I think this is something I should do alone. Thank you."

He kept clutching Kurt's hand, though, as he went back to Tina and asked,

"Do you have time to talk a little, just the two of us?"

Her beaming smile made him feel better about it all. He had missed her, he realized, and this...if he did this right, it would save their friendship and hopefully stop her antagonizing Kurt so much. If he could do this right.

He turned to Kurt. "We'll just go back inside and have a drink. You can go on home, and later I'll take a cab or something."

"No," Kurt said, in a voice that showed he would accept no objections and made Blaine instinctively lean toward him, giving him his whole attention. "No. I'm not leaving you here without a way to get home. We'll drive home, Tina can ride with us, and then she can wait while you shower and change, and you can go to the café across the street or somewhere else close by. You'll tell me where so I know where you are and that you are safe."

Blaine wanted to say, "Yes, Sir,"; in fact Kurt's words didn't really leave room for a different answer. But he wanted to ease Tina gently into the whole matter, so he only said, "Okay," and offered Tina his arm in a show of old-fashioned gentlemanliness he knew she liked. "Tina?"

…...

The drive home was awkward. Tina was silent, and somehow it came across as accusing. It must be hard for her, Kurt thought. She had no idea what was going on, and once more, she had met Kurt's rather...assertive side. But it was hard for Blaine, too, he knew; Blaine's hand was lying on Kurt's thigh as he drove, and sometimes it squeezed so hard it hurt.

And Kurt - Kurt was seething. It was no one's fault, but it seemed that whenever they tried to do anything outside their own four walls, they met the worst person possible (although it might be unjust to compare Tina to Alex White, but whatever. He was in no mood to be just.). He was angry about this abrupt end to their evening, and poor Tina had caught the brunt of his anger; he had no patience for her feelings when it came to Blaine's safety.

Also, he was terribly afraid. Blaine had always been so sure, so secure in his submission; he had never asked what that made of him, never doubted his own strength, not as long as they knew each other. Talking about it to another person - being judged by that person - might change that. None of them, as far as he knew, had ever been in a position of having to defend their lifestyle.

He resolutely suppressed the fear that this might cause him to lose Blaine.

He put his hand over Blaine's and squeezed, trying to convey his love and support without words, very much aware of Tina's silent, angry presence on the backseat.

Finally back in his apartment, he sent Blaine to shower and cleared the pile of old newspapers he was using to wrap china in from the couch so that Tina could sit down while she waited. He even gave her a cup of coffee, but that was about as far as his hospitality would go. She hated him - or at least, profoundly disliked him - anyway, and no amount of awkward smalltalk would change that. Besides, he was still angry, and while rationally he knew that nothing of this was Tina's fault because all she had done was to greet a friend she had met in an unexpected place, he still thought it better not to talk too much.

So he was terribly impolite and left their guest alone in the living room, sitting instead on the edge of the bed, with the bedroom door closed, and waited for Blaine to come out of the shower. Then he watched him dress, and noticed that he picked a shirt that was open in the neck, showing off his collar. He smiled at that; it must be nice for Blaine to be able to show it to someone. Maybe something good could come out of this, but it didn't change the fact that Kurt was scared.

When Blaine was dressed, he knelt on the floor between Kurt's legs, and Kurt put his arms around him and laid his head on Blaine's shoulder. For a little time, they sat like this, holding each other tight, until Kurt sat up with a sigh and kissed Blaine's forehead.

"Go," he said with a little push. "Explain our sex life to your friend."

It was meant to make Blaine laugh, and it worked. For a moment, they smiled, but soon Kurt's worries came through again.

"Just...don't let her make you feel ashamed of what we do. What we are."

Blaine shook his head. "I won't, Sir. I've been through the whole "Is-what -I-want-normal"-phase, and I won't do it again."

Kurt nodded. "I'm still scared."

Blaine sighed and smiled a little. "Me too." He stood up. "I love you. Don't wait up for me."

When Blaine was nearly at the door, Kurt called after him, and as he turned around, he pulled him close once again and said,

"If you change your mind and want me to come support you, or come get you, or...I don't know, organize a couple of Doms in full BDSM gear to scare her into silence, text me."

"I will, Sir." Blaine smiled and kissed him, and then he was gone.

…...

They were sitting in the café, steaming cups of decaffeinated coffee in front of them (Blaine was not taking any chances. He would probably have difficulty enough falling asleep tonight, he didn't need extra help with that.).

Tina was still looking confused and a little mad, but she had thawed noticeable since they were alone. Kurt wasn't somewhat to encourage intimacy, Blaine knew; there were perhaps only a few people who could be completely relaxed around him.

"Sorry for dragging you here," Blaine said. It wasn't actually so much of an inconvenience; he knew she lived around here. Still, she hadn't had very much say in coming here.

"I don't mind coming here," she said, smiling at him. It only looked a little forced. "I get where Kurt was coming from, he was looking out for you. I can appreciate that. But I don't appreciate being walked all over. He needs to work on a more...diplomatic choice of words."

Blaine exhaled slowly. There wouldn't be another opening like this, probably. "He doesn't, though. Not when it comes to me. He should probably work on...being a little more subtle in public, even when he worries about me, but with me, he can talk any way he likes."

"What do you mean?"

"First, you have to promise me that you don't talk of this to anyone. Like, I could possibly lose my job if you do."

"Blaine, what is the meaning of all of this?"

Right. He hadn't even told her why they were sitting here. He took a sip of his coffee.

"I want to talk to you about my relationship to Kurt. I want us to be friends again, like we used to, and that means that I want to be able to answer any questions you might have. And I want you to stop believing Kurt is abusing me."

She smiled slightly and touched his hand. "I would like that too. But if it's just relationship stuff, why all the secrecy?"

He shrugged. "Because people judge. You can talk about this to Kurt and myself, and I can introduce you to others you can talk to if you want. But apart from that, you have to promise me to keep this quiet."

Slowly, she nodded. "I can do that. But all you've managed up to now is to make me really nervous. I keep thinking you're secretly a superhero or something."

He laughed. "No superhero, I promise. Just...well, a very slight case of a secret identity."

He stalled a bit, stirring his coffee, licking the spoon. Then he took a deep breath.

"What do you know about BDSM?"