Hey. Just checking in. Hope everything's alright with you. Don't be afraid to give me a call ~K

Kurt's message blared at Blaine's moist eyes. He sighed and took in a deep breath. Don't be afraid to give me a call. How could he possibly explain this to him? "Yeah, my dad was emotionally and physically abusive and when your dad mentions fixing up cars, the memories just come flooding back so it would be real helpful if you would just get him to not talk about his career at all whenever I'm around. Thanks." Not happening.

He was supposed to be Kurt's mentor, the one he looked to for advice. How could he possibly be that for him when Kurt knew he was battling his own demons? Moral, compassionate Kurt would probably pretend like his problems meant nothing just to take Blaine under his wing, maybe even start feeling bad for dumping his own baggage on him.

Blaine ran a heavy hand through his laboriously gelled curls, mauling the issue over. Kurt wasn't going to simply back off because Blaine told him to; he knew better than that. Maybe – he hated even the thought of it – if he ignored Kurt for a little while he would begin to forget about the dinner and it would be in the past.

He hated to do it, but Kurt couldn't know his secret – not yet.

Nobody except for him, Jen, his mother and his godforsaken father knew anything about it. And he wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.

Blaine had this illogical fear that, if he shared his experiences with anyone, Hugh would come and find him and forcibly shut his mouth for him. Or worse – hurt that person. He couldn't put anyone in danger, especially not Kurt. He had to keep his mouth shut. No matter what.

Blaine nodded his head, decision made. He stood up from the Dalton regulation leather couch he had flopped down onto when he entered the room, slipped off his black winter coat and Dalton scarf and got into his pyjamas, hopping into bed for a restless night of tossing and turning.

"Blaine, I'm so sorry," Kurt soothed, rubbing circles into the small of his back.

"It's not your fault," Blaine choked, trying to gain composure. "You had nothing to with this."

Suddenly, the door to Blaine's dorm came flying open, revealing a tall, dark-haired, older man – Hugh.

Blaine instantly stood up and covered Kurt. "What are you doing here?" he nearly hissed.

"You weren't supposed to tell anyone," Hugh smirked, throwing a clear punch into Blaine's jaw. Blaine went tumbling to the ground, gripping the coffee table to try to stand. "And you must be his boyfriend," Hugh grinned maliciously, hitting Kurt with the same force. Kurt screamed in pain, no where near as pain tolerant as Blaine.

"What the hell?" Kurt screamed, his anger letting him quickly gain composure.

"You can't do this!" Blaine yelled in his father's face. "You can't hurt him! This isn't his problem!"

"But he knows," Hugh growled. "And I can't risk him ratting me out. This is your fault, Blaine." Hugh plucked Kurt from the couch, not without a fight, and carried him out of the room.

"Blaine!" Kurt screamed as the door slammed shut behind his father.

Blaine sprang up in bed, coated in a cold, sticky sweat. He sighed, laying back in bed as he tried to make his heart stop racing. It was only a dream, it was only a dream, he repeated to himself over and over. There was no way he was getting anymore sleep in this state, so he stepped out of bed and hopped in the shower. The warm steam calmed him slightly, but every time he shut his eyes, Kurt's terrified face labelled the inside of his eye lids. No, he couldn't tell Kurt. He couldn't put him in danger. Who knew what Hugh was capable of.

Blaine wrapped a towel around his hips, walking back to his dorm. His dorm mate was gone away for a mid-year vacation so he didn't have to worry about waking anyone. He entered the room, flicking on the light to begin to get dressed. He plucked his phone off of the nightstand to check for any messages. Three from Kurt.

11:57pm

You know you can talk to me about anything, right? ~K

12:34am

Please just tell me what's wrong. ~K

1:42am

I'm going to bed. Meet me at the Lima Bean at 10? ~K

Blaine let out a heavy sigh. He felt terrible leaving Kurt out of the loop like this. It was obvious he was really worried about him. He had to tell him something.

I'll be there. -Blaine

Kurt was sat at their usual table at the Lima Bean, sipping on his grande non-fat mocha with the steaming medium drip sitting across from him, waiting for it's recipient. What was wrong with Blaine? He had been acting so normal all day up until dinner. Kurt racked his brain, trying to think of something that had been said that may have upset him, but he drew a blank. Blaine was always so strong. There had to be something seriously wrong to upset him so much. Kurt sighed, sitting back in the wooden chair as Blaine entered the small cafe, eyes immediately meeting Kurt's. Kurt gave the shorter boy a small grin as he crossed the room. Blaine was visibly upset, but Kurt caught the way his eyes lightened a little when they met with Kurt's; maybe it was wishful thinking.

Blaine stood at the table, looking down at the coffee sitting on the table. "Mine?" Kurt nodded. You still know my coffee order, Blaine mentally noted. He walked over to the barista counter. "Cinnamon," he explained, earning a good-natured eye roll from Kurt.

Blaine finally took his seat, mixing in his cinnamon with a stir stick in a slightly awkward silence. "So," Kurt started, breaking the ice. "Can we just get right to it?"

"Right to what?" Blaine asked.

"Don't play innocent with me," Kurt chided. "What happened last night?"

Blaine took a deep breath, pulling a long gulp of his coffee, slightly burning the inside of his mouth; he was buying time. What was he supposed to say? "Kurt, if it's okay, I'm really not ready to talk about it," Blaine explained, sitting his coffee back down.

Kurt measured his friend's expression carefully. Blaine was always so hard to read. "Fine," Kurt finally agreed. "But the second you're ready -"

"I'll come to you," Blaine finished, a small smile tugging at his lips.

Kurt mimicked his expression, falling into silence. "Are you gonna be okay?" Kurt questioned.

Blaine actually pondered on this. Would he? He had to be; not just for himself, but for Kurt. "Yeah," Blaine replied. "Yeah, I think I will."

Kurt, for once, could see right through him. He could see the fear still lingering in his warm, hazel eyes; eyes which now looked cold. There was nothing he could do though. Blaine had promised he would tell him, that was a far as they were going to get. "Okay," Kurt paused, touching his fingertips to Blaine's hand, currently wrapped around his coffee. "I'm here," he said softly.

"I know," Blaine spoke just as softly, another smile playing on his lips. "Thank you."

Over the next few days, things had gone back to normal. Any problems had nearly been forgotten. Kurt was still concerned for his friend and hoped he would talk to him, but he forced himself to push the thoughts to the back of his mind. They had been so busying with settling Kurt into Dalton that they hardly even had any time to think anyway.

"Hello there," Blaine greeted, showing up outside of Kurt's final period Latin classroom just as he exited. Blaine took the more slender boy's books into his own empty arms, leading the way to his dorm room. Kurt had decided to board at Dalton (much to Blaine's excitement) and tonight was the first night he would be able to stay the night.

"Hi," Kurt breathed shallowly, still slightly taken aback by Blaine's gentlemanly behaviour after all these weeks.

"How are your classes?" Blaine asked conversationally.

"They're great. They're a lot tougher, but it's better than going on auto-pilot all day at McKinley."

Blaine laughed. "Most of these kids would kill for that."

"Well, I guess I just like a challenge," Kurt dancing eyes met with Blaine's. Was that flirting? Blaine shook it off, dragging his eyes away from his friend's (he accentuated the word in his mind) delicious looking lips.

"Lot of homework?" Blaine asked, trying to keep on topic and keep any bad thoughts at bay.

"Not really actually," Kurt answered. "I guess they're throwing me a little slack to start."

Blaine chuckled. "Knowing these teachers, that won't last long. You'll be begging for McKinley."

"Never," Kurt replied, the same mysterious emotion dancing in his eyes again.

Blaine chose to ignore, getting around to his point. "Well, if you don't have a lot of homework, why don't you come over tomorrow?"

"To your dorm?"

"Yeah, why not?"

Kurt grinned widely. "I'd love to."

"Alright," Blaine smiled just as widely. "I'll see you at one," he told him, walking backwards. Uncharacteristically awkwardly, he banged into a kid walking down the hall. A small protest of "Watch it!" was heard. Kurt giggled as Blaine brushed himself off, a blush spreading across his cheeks. "I better leave before I embarrass myself any further," Blaine chuckled nervously, wringing the back of his neck with his large, calloused hand. "I'll, um, see ya tomorrow."

Kurt found it all impossibly adorable.

Author's Note:

Ehh, slightly awkward ending. I gotta get better at wrapping these things up. Sorry this is so late! I've been terribly busy with everything. Which is odd for me because usually I have no life, haha. I don't know which one is better. Beggars can't be choosers, haha.

ANYWHO! READ & REVIEW AND YOU'LL GET FRESHLY BAKED INTERNET COOKIES. YUM!

Love you all! * hearts *