Author's Note: Thanks so much for the feedback! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of the characters. Kurt Hummel/Chris Colfer and Blaine Anderson/Darren Criss are not mine (unfortunately).
Summary: "There's a knock at the door and Kurt opens it to see a drenched Blaine Anderson looking lost and defeated." Blaine tells his parents about Kurt with disastrous consequences.
Genre: Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Drama
Warnings: Possible language, abuse
Rating: Upped to M (just to be safe)
Pairings: Kurt/Blaine (Klaine)
COURAGE
With a whimper, Blaine latches onto Kurt. All of the sudden, Kurt doesn't care that he's in an apron and is covered in flour and carrot strips—he hugs Blaine back, ignoring the fact that he's getting incredibly damp. He runs his fingers through Blaine's dripping hair, kisses Blaine's forehead, tries to warm his boyfriend up—do something to make himself seem as though he's not useless and as though he can help his boyfriend in some way.
Blaine shivers convulsively and only sobs more loudly, grabbing more desperately onto Kurt. Water drips down his face in rivers, and Kurt can't tell if it's the rain or Blaine's tears.
"Oh my God, what happened?" Kurt says gently, trying to conceal the panic in his voice. "You're soaked to the bone! Let me go get you a towel or something to dry you off-" he starts to try to pull himself out of Blaine's grasp, but Blaine only cries even harder and wraps his arms even tighter around Kurt's torso.
Kurt stands there for who knows how long, as Blaine's shoulders heave with his sobs. Kurt kisses his boyfriend, dappling his face with kisses, thinking about how he is usually on the receiving end of this tender, caring display of affection.
"Shhh...," Kurt eventually says, breaking the silence that was only punctuated by Blaine's cries. "It's okay, sweetheart. Tell me what happened." He tries to ignore the fact that his heart is racing out of control and tries to ignore the blooming bruises on Blaine's cheekbone and eye.
Blaine's choking on his sobs and stutters as he tries to get the words out. "H-he-h-G-God K-Kurt, I-I c-can't even-" his words are punctuated by sharp cries.
"Shhhh," Kurt coaxes, kissing Blaine's cheek. He's trying to keep his composure, but he's never seen Blaine like this—so disheveled and broken. "It's okay, just take it slowly."
"Um... hey guys, is everything alright?" Both Kurt and Blaine turn their faces in alarm to see a shocked and nervous looking Finn. Finn's hair is raised in spikes and his eyes are bleary and he's obviously just woken up, but the way he's looking at Kurt and Blaine in concern is endearing.
With a choked cry, Blaine breaks his eye contact with Finn and buries his face into Kurt's shoulder again, Kurt's damp sweater serving as a place to muffle his anguish.
"Finn, can you do me a favor?" Kurt asks carefully, making sure to continue rubbing Blaine's back. "Do you think you could get me a towel? And ask your mom to make some hot chocolate? Oh, and," his mind registers the slight burning smell, "my zucchini-carrot bread is in the oven—can you take it out? Don't forget to wear an oven mitt!"
"Yeah, sure man, no worries," Finn says hurriedly, and rushes off, his footsteps loud against the floorboards. Kurt knows from one of his attempted brother-brother bonding conversations with Finn that crying girls freak Finn out more than anything, and now he's realizing that crying boys probably do even more so.
"Blaine, sweetheart, let's sit you down, okay?" Kurt is unused to being the strong one in their relationship—after all, Kurt was first drawn to Blaine as his knight in shining armor who saved him from Karofsky and who comforted him as he faced bullying head-on at McKinley. But Blaine is hurting, and there's no way in hell that Kurt's not going to step up to the plate and help his boyfriend.
Blaine nods and collapses on the couch with Kurt. He curls up, and as Kurt tries to pull away to take off his damp sweater, Blaine grabs onto him like a needy child, "P-please don't leave."
Kurt sighs, his heart breaking, "Blaine, I'm not going anywhere."
"Hey, um, Kurt?" Kurt looks up to see Finn holding a huge, fluffy towel and a clean set of clothes. "Here." Finn holds out the towel in Kurt's face, and Kurt accepts it, and begins gently drying Blaine off.
"Blaine, what happened to your face?" Finn asks aghast, and as Blaine starts with a whole new series of sobs, Kurt throws Finn a Get out of here right now look, to which Finn obeys as he nervously and quickly disappears, mumbling something about zucchini-carrot bread. Kurt continues drying Blaine off, and finally manages to coax him to change out of his soaking outfit.
About fifteen minutes later, Kurt is cuddled up on the couch next to a considerably drier Blaine who is quietly sipping a cup of hot chocolate prepared by Carole and nibbling aimlessly on a piece of zucchini-carrot bread. Blaine's looking down miserably at the cup of cocoa in his hands, but at least he's warming himself up and has stopped quaking convulsively. Kurt reminds himself to thank Carole a million times after this, as Carole simply marched in and set a tray of two hot chocolate mugs filled to the brim with whipped cream and left, no questions asked (though Kurt highly suspects he will be interrogated later). Kurt usually tries to watch what he eats, but he'll make an exception for Carole's hot chocolate—which she uses freshly melted chocolate chips to make—and for Blaine's sake of course.
"Blaine?" Kurt breaks the silence after they've both been sitting in the awkward quiet for long enough. "Honey, you want to tell me what happened?"
Blaine sets his cup of cocoa down and grabs a decorative couch pillow. He pulls his knees up to his chest and cushions the pillow on his kneecaps to rest his head. His disheveled curls fall naturally over his forehead, and his whole body seems tense.
More silence. And then-
"I told him—them—about you—us." Blaine's voice is deeper than usual, and laced with sorrow. He glances up at Kurt, his eyelids still rimmed red and the bruises dappling his cheekbones even more evident now that he is dry.
Kurt extends his hand and Blaine squeezes it.
"At first they thought I was joking, but I told them about you and about how happy I am with you, and," Blaine gulps hard, his voice wavering as he continues. "My dad hit me, Kurt, he punched me—beat the living daylights out of me. I was on the floor under him as he just kept punching my face when my mom begged him to stop and... he wouldn't even listen to me, Kurt."
Blaine starts crying again and Kurt rubs his shoulders, feeling helpless as Blaine continues. Blaine goes on recklessly now, his emotions seeping through his words. "He told me that he thought it was only a phase and that I would get over it. He said, 'You're not welcome here.' He told me to 'get out' of my own home, that a f-faggot wasn't allowed in his house... he c-called me... and you... terrible, horrible names, Kurt.
"It was horrible, Kurt. He's my dad—why would he do this to me? And my mom was just standing there crying and she didn't do anything to help me and they just kicked me out and," Blaine's babbling now, barely even stopping to catch a breath as the tears begin flowing freely again. "I-I didn't know where to come and I'm sorry I came here to dump this on you, but," Blaine's voice breaks in pain, "I don't know what to do..." his voice trails off weakly and he begins to shake again.
"Shh, of course you're welcome here," Kurt whispers, pulling Blaine close to him. Blaine replies in a whimper, and Kurt runs his fingers through Blaine's hair. "I promise I won't let him hurt you again, I am so sorry you had to go through that."
He wishes he could say more, but right now his heart is still pounding in shock, and what can he do? He wishes he could have been there with Blaine so that Blaine wouldn't have had to face the abuse by himself, he wishes Mr. Anderson was as understanding as his own dad, he wishes so much that things could be different, but his wishes are no use.
Kurt strokes Blaine's cheek absently until his boyfriend stops shaking and his whimpers subside to become slow and steady deep breaths, a troubled expression still dominating his sleeping face. Kurt pulls a blanket over Blaine and wishes there was more he could do. Nobody's going to hurt Blaine though. That's a promise Kurt intends to keep.
The boys—Kurt, Blaine, and Finn—pretend that they are staying quiet because they want to be and they are definitely not eavesdropping on the conversation Carole and Burt are having as they take turns yelling at/responding to/pleading Mr. Anderson on the speaker phone in the kitchen.
"Your own son-"
"How could you do that to your own child?"
"You are lucky that I-"
"I ought to-"
"It's none of your business!"
"Damn straight he's my business—he is important to my son and he sure as hell is important to all of us-"
"What is wrong with you?"
With each escalating reply, with each string of words more biting than the next, Blaine hunches over in the couch and whimpers more audibly, arms wrapped around his stomach as if he's in pain. Finn looks dumbly at the floor; his eyes flicker up to study Blaine in concern, drift over to Kurt, back to the floor in a pattern.
Kurt sure as hell doesn't believe in God—or gods of any kind—but he finds himself pleading for help in his head anyway, to anyone who might listen. He doesn't deserve this, please let them take him back. Please help him get through this, please let him be okay. I love him and nobody should be hurt like this-
His thoughts are interrupted by a shout from Burt: "He looks like he has been beaten half to death—I could call the authorities for this and report you for child abuse!"
"How dare you threaten me-"
"He is your own flesh and blood! You are a disgrace to the human race! You do not deserve to call yourself a man, you are a sick monster—you deserve to rot in Hell you son-of-a-bitch!"
Blaine flinches visibly, and Kurt reaches out immediately to squeeze his hand.
"Blaine," Kurt whispers gently, "we can get out of here—you don't have to hear this."
Blaine blinks at him, shiny tears pooling in his eyes. "No, I... I need to know what's gonna happen to me, Kurt."
Before Kurt can begin to formulate a reply, they hear the sound of the phone hanging up. Seconds later, Carole and Burt emerge—Burt's expression is grave while Carole looks like she's about to burst into tears, her face an angry contorted mess.
"Blaine, honey, you will... be staying with us for awhile," Carole says gently, and Kurt's heart breaks.
He pulls Blaine into a hug as Blaine breaks down again. Kurt is grateful when he feels Carole's presence above him, as she starts whispering soothing words to Blaine as she rubs his back. They're joined by Burt who "ahems" awkwardly, grips Blaine's shoulder in a supposedly comforting manner, and tensely says, "There, there," over and over. Then even Finn is there, hugging Blaine and saying, "Don't worry, everything's gonna be alright."
And Kurt hopes so, for Blaine's sake. He hopes and prays and wishes—everything needs to be alright.
School arrangements, fortunately, stay the same. As the Andersons have already paid Dalton's tuition for the remainder of the semester, Blaine continues to board at Dalton during the week, but he sees Kurt pretty regularly. Blaine can't stand to be at Dalton on the weekends anymore—Kurt knows that only Wes knows about the whole ordeal—and Blaine is a regular the Hudson-Hummel residence now.
Kurt has never been more thankful for Carole and Finn as he is now.
He loves Carole when she firmly puts her foot down—"Burt, don't be ridiculous, there is no way that poor boy is sleeping on the couch any longer! He has already been through enough as it is and we are the closest thing he has to a family right now! I am going to fix him up a bed in the family room and that is that—I knew keeping this cot would come in handy at some point."
Finn seems to have decided that the role of protective brother extends not only to Kurt but also to boys-Kurt-is-in-love-with, or namely Blaine. When Blaine comes to see the New Directions practice one day after school at Dalton, he is met face-first with a slushie from Azimio. Kurt has never seen Finn move so fast and Azimio look so much like he was going to crap his pants. Also, when Kurt enters his house to see Finn laying out clothes that, "You know, I thought Blaine could wear these because... well, you know, Kurt not everybody can wear what you wear—I mean, not that there's anything wrong with what you wear but some people—and don't worry! They're clean," on Blaine's cot, it takes all Kurt's effort to keep him from hugging his stepbrother.
Kurt also has come to realize (for the millionth time) how fortunate he is to have his father. When Burt claps a hand on Blaine's shoulder and says, "Son, just so you know you can talk to me if you need anything," Kurt swallows a lump the size of a golfball in his throat.
But Kurt is worried about Blaine.
Yes, Blaine is alive, and he is recovering. He brushes off the bruises on his face as a "I was stupid and tried to reach a book too high on the shelf causing the whole bunch of books to fall" accident and when Kurt visits him at Dalton, he looks happy and attentive, but everything seems forced. Blaine moves and breathes and walks and eats (though sparingly), but nothing seems real and though he's alive, he seems lifeless. His voice lacks luster during Glee practice, and even Blaine's greatest fans among the Warblers are criticizing him. There are circles so deep under his eyes that a worried Mike Chang asks Kurt if Blaine's sick and if Kurt would like him to bring in some of Mrs. Chang's panda hair tea, and Blaine seems so thin and fragile that even Puck says that he'll swipe a sandwich from Subway for him (to which Mr. Schuester hurriedly chastises him—"Puck, theft is wrong!")
And as much as Kurt appreciates his friends'—or his sort-of friends (well Mike is by default because he's Tina's boyfriend, but Puck?)—caring gestures, he also has a self-admittedly selfish desire to be the one to support Blaine.
Though Kurt hates to admit it, he feels guilty for Blaine's situation. Blaine's abandonment was caused by Kurt—if Kurt wasn't in the picture, the Andersons could have gone on pretending and Blaine would have been happy and none of this would have happened.
His guilt builds up inside of him, feeling heavier and heavier in his chest, and beginning to feel like a weight pressing down on his lungs.
He brings it up one day, as he and Blaine are lying in Kurt's bed together (a privilege that Burt has granted—as long as they keep the door open). Blaine is staring wide-eyed at the ceiling, his arms cushioning his head, and Kurt is absently stroking his (or rather Finn's) plaid, flannel shirt. (Kurt really hates flannel, but he has to admit that the olive green color brings out Blaine's eyes—and let's face it, he's biased, and his man looks good in anything).
"I'm sorry," Kurt blurts.
Blaine, who has been shaken and jumpy the past week, starts, and twists his head to look over at Kurt. His hazel eyes look a hurt as he meets Kurt's gaze. "What?"
"I'm sorry—it's my fault that all of this has happened," Kurt states. "If I hadn't told you to bring it up with your parents, you'd still be at home and-" he's babbling, his emotions flooding out like a waterfall through a broken dam.
"Kurt, don't be ridiculous," Blaine chastises him gently, "it would have come out anyways. If not with you, with someone else, and," he gulps, "it was good for me. Well not good for me obviously, but it was important for me to know how my parents would react." Blaine studies Kurt's face, and doesn't say anything, but an unspoken tension lies between them.
Kurt looks back at him. This is the most Blaine has said in one sitting (other than Warbler practice) since he came in through the rain that night.
"I'm so sorry you have to go through this," Kurt finally says.
Blaine doesn't answer, but his body language speaks volumes as he shifts his gaze back to the ceiling. Can we change the subject already?
And Kurt does, gently placing his lips on Blaine's soft ones. Blaine closes his eyes and deepens the kiss, his dark lashes prominent against his pale skin. His body arches forward, and before Kurt can realize what's happening, both boys are panting and racing to get undressed. Kurt treads quietly to the door and shuts it, hoping that—for both his and Blaine's sakes—that Burt doesn't hear, before Blaine scrambles and practically rips off Kurt's pants. And the whole time Kurt tugs on Blaine's curly, messy hair and kisses him heatedly is, I can't believe I didn't think of this before.
Neither of them has ever done anything like this before—the furthest they have gone is passionately making out. They're both virgins, so each movement is incredibly awkward and clumsy and inherently gentle as each boy is afraid to mess up or to hurt the other. Kurt drags his tongue across Blaine's chest with a snarl (and prays that he looks sexy rather than petrified and ridiculous like the way he feels). Blaine responds with moans so loud that Kurt is convinced any second, Burt will kick the door in waving a knife, demanding to know who is dying or if Kurt is watching gay porn again (it was only one time and it was completely an accident caused by an annoying pop-up from the Internet—he swears!)
(A/N: There's a bit of a graphic sex scene here-not heavily graphic, but I don't want to post it in case I'm violating any site rules or anything. If you'd like to read it, just review letting me know what you think of the chapter and if you're a logged in viewer, I can reply with it-just let me know you want it! If you're an anonymous reviewer, review with your email address, but make sure if you put it into the body of the message do USERNAME SPACE AT DOMAIN . COM-if you type in a site, it will be deleted! Anyways, there's sex here)
Blaine looks over at Kurt under lidded eyes, heavy with desire. "Thank you."
"I-I I love you," Kurt whispers, kissing Blaine's nose.
Blaine doesn't reply, but from the light in his eyes and the droopy, lazy smile that drapes over his face—the first real smile Kurt has seen from him since Blaine's world fell apart. And hey, if giving Blaine a little more than kisses is what it takes to keep Blaine vibrant and happy, Kurt is more than willing to comply.
"Umm..." comes a hesitant voice. Kurt and Blaine both start and look up from their spots in bed, Blaine's arm wrapped around Kurt's bare shoulders.
Finn stands in the doorway like a big, hulking giant. He flushes a shade of violent pink as his eyes nervously drift over the boxers and pants and shirts strewn around the floor. "I'm sorry—I-I should go. I was just coming to tell you that it was uh d-dinner time and uh..." he turns awkwardly, "I'm leaving."
When they hear Finn's hurried footsteps thudding—no, he's bolting—away, Blaine sniggers. His chortle turns into a giggle and then escalates to a guffaw, and then Blaine is laughing to the point where he's nearly crying. Kurt, who does not find the situation funny at all, stares at his boyfriend in wide-eyed horror and proceeds to slap him playfully across the chest.
"Blaine, you are so immature—what if he tells my dad? Oh my God, oh my God, I am in so much trouble, I-"
Blaine silences him with a kiss and then looks at him, an amused expression still dancing in his eyes.
"Finn's not gonna say anything, Kurt." Blaine looks thoughtfully upwards. "I wonder what he'd do if he caught us actually in the act."
"That is not happening," Kurt hisses, to which Blaine begins laughing again.
At least someone is amused by Kurt's utter humiliation and embarrassment.
On the bright side, at least Blaine's laughing again.
At the dinner table, Blaine wiggles his eyebrows suggestively at Finn.
Finn hurriedly stands up, pushes his plate away, announces that he isn't really hungry, and makes a beeline to his room, where the entire family hears the door slamming.
A bemused Carole exclaims that this has always been Finn's favorite dinner and if there's something wrong with it, she encourages the boys to tell her and a concerned Burt asks Kurt if anything strange happened at school that is causing Finn's odd behavior and Carole, of course your food is delicious.
Kurt says he knows of no such thing. He then proceeds to kick his terribly behaved boyfriend under the kitchen table.
Blaine restrains himself from crying out and politely asks Carole to pass the dressing.
It's amazing how comfortable Kurt has become with Blaine in his house. He can't imagine a time before going downstairs in the morning to not see Blaine sitting there, calmly eating a bowl of Froot Loops or Cinnamon Toast Crunch (honest to God, the boy has the same appetite and metabolism as Finn!), while Kurt pulls out oatmeal or some variety of Kashi cereal (watching his figure is a must—boyfriend or not). Ever since the escapade, Finn seems a bit more wary of them and usually tries to sit as far away from them as possible, but usually he joins them at the breakfast table too. Burt and Carole slide in and will ask them how their week was and they always try to include Blaine. And it seems perfect, the three boys and Kurt's parents and a stack of pancakes as tall as a mountain doused with syrup (which Finn, Blaine, and Burt make good work of) freshly made by Carole. Conversation flows as easily with Blaine there as it had when Blaine wasn't there, but Kurt can't remember a time when Blaine wasn't living at his house.
It's perfect, really. It's not just Kurt, either. His whole family (with maybe the exception of Finn), is used to having Blaine there—even growing to accept him as a constant. Carole will come back from the grocery store and tell Blaine to unload the car, or Burt will ask Blaine to help him out in the shop for a little. And Kurt—well Kurt doesn't mind spending all of his time with Blaine. During the week, he spends time with his friends from McKinley—goes shopping with Mercedes and Tina—and sometimes even Rachel, and during the weekend, he curls up on the couch with Blaine and watches Project Runway or humor Finn and watch South Park.
Yes, Kurt is happy, and he could go on living like this forever... well at least until he's done with high school. He loves Blaine, Blaine loves him, and everything is good. Kurt thinks he's finally found happiness.
Kurt has never believed in perfection or true utter bliss. But with Blaine, he thinks there's a good chance that he's found it. He hasn't found anybody who makes him happier, who genuinely cares about his feelings—who gave up his parents, everything for the one he loves. Blaine is sweet and intelligent, and together, Blaine and Kurt are as damn close to perfect as you can get—at least that's what Kurt thinks.
Kurt is wrong.
Author's Note: I hope you guys enjoyed this! If you guys review, I'd really appreciate it. Courage has been my second most added story to Story Alerts, but I'd really love to hear what you guys think rather than just get an influx of "Story Alerts!" and "Story Favorites!" (though those are really appreciated! I'm thinking there will be 2 more installments of this, and then I'll be done. I also have a lot of other Glee ideas coming up, so look out for those! :)