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I thought of walking to my car, but I was exhausted. My head was trying to sort things out.

Why did Karofsky tell them to stop? He probably just didn't want to get caught...

My wondering would have to wait. Finn shot out of the school and called my name. There weren't many cars left in the lot so he was able to spot me.

"Kurt!" He ran up to me, a look of shock on his face. "W-What the hell, man? What happened?" I stood up slowly and my legs wobbled. Finn grabbed my arm to steady me. "Was it Karofsky?" I nodded and he swore under his breath.

I shifted my weight and I whimpered through my teeth, my hand flew to my side. Finn's face went from angered to worried.

"I think we should... go to the hospital," Finn led me to his car.

We rode in awkward silence till we got to there. I kept tissues trained on my nose.

At the hospital Finn called our parents while a nurse took me to be examined.

I reluctantly put on a plain hospital gown. It proved difficult with the pain coming from my sides.

The doctor was blunt and as gray as the room I found myself in. I had two broken ribs and a broken nose. All he could do for me was tell me to rest and take it easy for the next few days. My body was going to heal itself.

I changed back into my uniform, save the blazer which would need some serious down time to extinguish the blood. They had cleaned the blood off of my face so I didn't give my dad another heart attack when I walked into the waiting room.

He had been waiting with Carole and Finn. They rushed over when they saw me.

"That damned Karofsky! When I get my hands on him-" My dad was fuming.

"Dad, it's okay. I'm fine."

"Kurt, we aren't letting him get away with this."

"He didn't do anything worse than before... it was the other Neanderthals who went too far."

"Any kind of abuse, physical or verbal, is going too far." He sighed. "You're staying home tonight."

"But-"

"No exceptions. You can drive back to Dalton tomorrow, if you feel up to it, but you have the day off from school. I already called to let them know." He put his hand on my shoulder firm but still gentle. "You need to rest, kiddo. I don't need to be worrying about you on the road."

I gave in and let them bring me home. I was too tired to argue. I put off calling Blaine until well after Carole stopped fussing over me and I was alone in my room. Finn was still upstairs for the time being.

I reached for my phone just as "Teenage Dream" started playing and Blaine's picture lit up the screen.

My heart leaped and I answered.

"Hey,"

"Kurt, why aren't you back yet? Didn't you say you'd only be gone for an hour or two? It's past curfew..."

"Something came up. I'm staying the night at home. I'll be coming back tomorrow." I tried to sound casual. This wasn't his problem. "I won't be in class either, I'll be getting back too late."

"...What happened?" He sighed at my silence. "You know you can talk to me, Kurt."

"Just a family issue. I'll tell you later." Not a total lie, but my voice wavered.

"Kurt..." He wasn't buying it.

"I need to get going. See you tomorrow." For the second time today I cut off the other end of the line. I turned my phone on silent and started my nightly moisturizing routine, careful to avoid my black eye and nose. It was going to be a long night.

Meanwhile a trembling hand cocked a gun and raised it tentatively to his temple. He just couldn't take this anymore.

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