The longest chapter yet, but it covers about half of the details I wanted it to... *sigh*

Blaine finished the necessary calls, and turned to Kurt, stating, "They're coming, the police sooner than the news- they want a confirmation that the story is true before they send people out here. It might take a while- not only is Dalton forty-five away from Lima, it's over an hour away from everything else important."

Blaine vaguely worried about that comment making Kurt think his hometown had an unnecessary importance to Blaine, but decided Kurt wasn't paying enough attention to notice. Blaine decided to re-ask his previous question that had been cut off.

"How did you end up like this?" He said with a firm, demanding tone, gesturing at Kurt's swollen nose. He was getting his answer this time.

"I would give you the short version, but I think it would just confuse you more. I really need Luce's permission to tell you the longer version, though; it is his story to tell, after all," Blaine felt a hazy patch of jealousy flare up at the mention of Luce and shared secrets, but it was far outweighed by his exponentially increasing curiosity.

Kurt looked him over as if to assess his mentor's trustworthiness, which angered Blaine until he remembered he had been acting as neither a mentor nor a friend since that night when he slightly exploded at Kurt and Lucian. He instead became extraordinarily happy when Kurt apparently deemed him as still reliable.

"I will tell you, but you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone else. Luce doesn't want anyone else to know and I want him to be the one to tell people. It's going to be long, so prepare yourself," Kurt said, and Blaine promised that he would, wondering what this story could possibly be that Lucian didn't want anyone to know.

"We have a bit of time."

Kurt began with the very first time he met Lucian, how he heard the singing and the piano music and joined in, how Lucian had been absolutely adorable had greeted him with a mischievous smile, something Blaine had not seen on the usually sullen boy until Lucian had met Kurt. He talked about how he had shortened Lucian's name to "Luce" without thinking and the other boy had liked it. The story was all very cute and sweet and Blaine unquestionably did not want to hear it. He didn't want to hear from Kurt's own lips how he had fallen for a boy other than him. He was strangely captivated, though, and couldn't stop listening as Kurt continued on with his excitement at the thought of dressing "Luce" up.

He listened through Kurt's explanation of that night at dinner when Blaine had been so jealous; Kurt had kept coming up with new stories to make the adorable boy smile and release his infectious laugh. He listened as Kurt recounted his adventures and conversations in Luce's room, culminating with the pillow fight that Blaine had interrupted, though suspiciously leaving out what words had been said to begin the battle in the first place.

He listened and fidgeted anxiously. He knew somewhere soon in this story he was going to have to hear how Kurt realized that he was madly in love with Lucian, and it distressed him just thinking about it. He wanted to cover his ears, but he kept his hand safely in his lap, twiddling his thumbs. He still wanted to hear why this story was Lucian's to tell and why he didn't want the rest of the school to know it. Blaine had assumed at the beginning that it would be Lucian discovering that he was gay, but the boy had admitted that without hesitation to Kurt only minutes after they met, so he must have already known.

Kurt skimmed lightly over his friends' visit, noting only that Lucian must have run out at some point after being introduced. He was dangerously close to the point where Blaine saw the two cuddled up to each other on Lucian's bed, and his nerves were beginning to fray.

Kurt skipped to later that afternoon when he went to go see Lucian, beginning with his shock at the German emo music the blond boy had been blaring. The nervous anticipation that Blaine had expected to turn into anger and jealousy in that scene changed instead into disgust and horror as Kurt described Luce's tears, wounds, and the text he had been staring at. Blaine's father hadn't been exactly happy with his sexuality, but for someone to actually be hit for it by his own parent, that was something Blaine had not expected, in this story or Lucian's life. Blaine knew his mouth was agape with the disbelief he felt, but he still registered how much Kurt must care for Lucian to stay there with him and comfort him though they had just met the day before.

Kurt moved on to the next morning when Luce had been acting absolutely too normal, and his suggestion of telling someone. As he described Lucian's rant and breakdown, during which he discovered the Dean of Dalton Academy was Luce's father, Blaine got incredibly angry at the man he had thought was a kind individual who didn't care about anyone's social standing or sexuality and accepted everyone for who they were. He didn't know how someone could welcome him, a gay student, with open arms while secretly beating his son for liking boys. Then he remembered the high tuition he had paid to get in, and was disgusted anew at the things some people would do for money, something Blaine felt he had too much of.

He was also angry at himself for jumping to conclusions and letting his feelings get the better of him. The two scenes that had caused him to believe Kurt and Lucian were in a relationship repainted in his head, Blaine killed himself for his stupidity. What was wrong with him? He hadn't noticed the dark splotches all over Lucian's torso because he was too distracted by the fact that Kurt was holding him, and he had chosen to see a lover's spat instead of one boy who was clearly upset seeking comfort in the arms of his friend. He was about to apologize to Kurt and Lucian when he saw him next, But Kurt was continuing, the tears that had been filling his eyes throughout the story spilled over.

"…and I couldn't do anything, we couldn't think of anything. I was very confident about telling Luce he needed to tell someone, but I couldn't even suggest anyone. I never felt so helpless, not even when Karofsky terrified me by just ramming his finger into my chest over my heart and I didn't feel like anyone cared.

"I kept feeling that way until this morning, when I heard you on the phone saying that you didn't want to be on the news, and realized that you could be almost any time if you wanted to. I got this idea- it was crazy, but it was even crazier because it actually worked. I remembered this line in one of the books I read about bullying that said if you confront a bully then they might act out aggressively, and I remembered when I confronted Karofsky in the locker room," He said shivering a little. Blaine felt immensely guilty as he realized he had given Kurt the exactly wrong advice at that time. The fact that Kurt's first kiss was taken had been Blaine's fault, but not in the way he ever wanted it to be.

"I remember he acted on what fueled his desire to bully me; he felt endangered by the feeling he felt towards other men. He acted on those feelings and kissed me. I thought that what fueled the Dean's actions was a combination of homophobia and the need to impress others, so I went to his office and endangered his status, knowing that the homophobia would already be affected by me just being there. I told him I knew all about what he did to his son and why he did it, hoping to rile him up enough to get him to hit me. It actually felt indescribably good to yell at him, and it obviously worked," Kurt said and chuckled a little as he gestured to his nose.

"Nice and visible, just like I wanted. He can't run away from this one. He's going to be removed from his position and hopefully hauled off to jail. The hard part, though, is that I want Luce to tell everyone how he's been beaten by his father ever since he was small and I need to convince him to do so. I want him away from that family, Blaine, otherwise this will have all been for next to nothing."

Blaine could feel his respect for Kurt growing immensely. He was so brave. Crazy and reckless, but exceedingly brave. He had been terrified because of a bully just a while ago, yet here he was just having faced a full-grown, powerful, abusive man for the sake of his friend who he had met not even a week ago. Blaine very much doubted he could do that even for the sake of someone he had known and loved his entire life. Kurt had risked both injury and ruining his appearance (Blaine knew Kurt was nothing if not meticulous about how he looked; the boy had an absurd amount of hair and skin products so he could look perfect every day.) for Lucian's sake.

Blaine usually thought that Kurt looked beautiful, even on the days Kurt thought he didn't. A few minutes and one story ago, Blaine had been shocked by Kurt's appearance. Now he thought it was the most beautiful he had ever seen Kurt. Unannounced and unexpected, the lyrics of Jason Mraz's "A Beautiful Mess" began running through Blaine's head, describing Kurt perfectly for some reason.

You've got the best of both worlds

You're the kind of girl who can take down a man,

And lift him back up again

With the exception of the word girl, Blaine felt this phrase to ring true. After all, how many times had Kurt's actions brightened Blaine's mood to the point of ecstasy or dampened it until he shut himself in his room, without even realizing he was doing it?

You are strong but you're needy,

Humble but you're greedy

Kurt was strong, so very strong, and Blaine knew that now, but he had also seen him at his weakest as well. As for the humble and greedy part, Kurt would never ask for comfort or companionship unless he desperately needed it, but Blaine had seen his eyes light up with desire for it on multiple occasions.

And based on your body language,

And shoddy cursive I've been reading

Your style is quite selective,

Though your mind is rather reckless

Blaine had never considered Kurt reckless until he heard the story, but now the word undoubtedly described him, and if anyone knew style, it was Kurt.

Well I guess it just suggests

That this is just what happiness is

Hey, what a beautiful mess this is

It's like picking up trash in dresses

Kurt himself was a beautiful mess right now. Blaine wasn't sure why knowing how Kurt got his injury made it so precious and beautiful, but it did and Kurt was absolutely gorgeous right now, though he was covered in blood and had bruises around his eyes.

Well it kind of hurts when the

Kind of words you write

Kind of turn themselves into knives

And don't mind my nerve

You could call it fiction

But I like being submerged

In your contradictions, dear

Blaine had felt more emotional pain in the past week from being in love with Kurt than he ever had even when he was being bullied before he transferred to Dalton, but he still loved being close to him. He was helplessly in love with Kurt, though he had been stung in a thousand different directions by him without him even noticing

'Cause here we are, here we are

Although you were biased

I love your advice

Your comebacks ‒ they're quick

And probably have to do with your insecurities

There's no shame in being crazy,

Depending on how you take these

Words they're paraphrasing

This relationship we're staging

Why was the song so perfect? Kurt could cut someone with his insecurity- fueled sarcasm. Crazy was another word Blaine wouldn't have used on Kurt until today, but he could see the look in Kurt's eyes this morning. And as for paraphrasing their relationship… oh, how Blaine would like to do just that and make it sound like one actually existed.

And what a beautiful mess, yes it is

It's like picking up trash in dresses

Well it kind of hurts when the

Kind of words you say

Kind of turn

Themselves into blades

And the kind and courteous

Is a life I've heard

But it's nice to say

That we played in the dirt

'Cause here, here we are,

Here we are

Here we are

We're still here

What a beautiful mess this is

It's like taking a guess

When the only answer is "Yes"

Through timeless words and priceless pictures

We'll fly like birds not of this earth

And tides ‒ they turn ‒ and hearts disfigure

But that's no concern when we're wounded together

That was Kurt's mentality towards Lucian; Blaine could feel it. He wanted to take half Lucian's wounds for him to share his burden and defend him. And if it were possible, Blaine loved him even more for it.

And we tore our dresses and stained our shirts

But it's nice today. Oh, the wait was so worth it.

A sob was what stopped Blaine from overanalyzing the song as he tended to do with things. Both his and Kurt's heads snapped towards the doorway.

Luce had seen Blaine walking swiftly past his third period classroom, and knew that he was going to look for Kurt. Luce hid a smile- Blaine and Kurt were head over heels for each other and neither of them realized it. He was happy the person his friend loved was so concerned about him.

Luce was worried about Kurt's whereabouts too, and on top of that was concerned about the "plan" Blaine had mentioned that Kurt had earlier, so it took all of about five minutes of fidgeting before he had to follow. He said he was feeling under the weather and left.

He heard the two in Blaine's room, talking, and was about to enter the cracked door when he realized he was the one being talked about. Kurt was telling Blaine everything; all the things Lucian had tried to keep secret. He was angry, but then reasoned that if Kurt trusted Blaine with the story then he should too. He sat outside the door to listen.

Luce was fine until Kurt got to the part about his plan. He hadn't seen Kurt yet, but the fact that he had confronted his father and gotten hurt for it, the fact that he had gone in expecting to get hurt, all for him, made him start to cry.

He had never meant to put Kurt through this all by becoming friends with him; if he had known he would have continued to be sullen and alone, hiding his true self. Still, he was so completely happy and honored that Kurt would do this for him, that he would confront Luce's father who was a very intimidating man for the boy he had met not a week ago.

Luce was crying tears of regret but also of happiness until he heard the rest of Kurt's story and it sunk in. Kurt had confronted his father. His father knew someone knew about Luce's homosexuality and about his beatings. His father knew that someone knew and now another person knew and he was going to kill Luce and Luce suddenly wanted to run and to hide and to be anywhere but in this school so close to his father….

Luce's tears had changed in to tears of fear, and though he knew the conversation in the room had stopped and it was quiet he couldn't help himself from emitting a loud sob.