Author's Note: Thank you so much for the feedback! I really appreciated and loved getting every one of your reviews. Many of you mentioned that "sex scenes" are allowed to be posted if you're fiction is M rating, but I've had some unfortunate run-ins with and I don't want to push my luck (I hope you guys understand!) I know I haven't gotten back to some of you with the scene yet, but I wrote this chapter (because I'm going absolutely crazy with school assignments and needed a break) so I decided to post it. I hope you guys enjoy!

Also, I'm starting a new fiction that centers on all the Glee members but will also include Kurt and Blaine! Please, please, please check out Small Steps. I would really appreciate any feedback on it whatsoever, and if you could leave me some reviews I would much appreciate it.

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

It happens one day, as Blaine and Kurt are watching Mean Girls with Finn, who has never seen it before (much to the horror of both Blaine and Kurt, who swear by the film and that "Lindsay Lohan actually had a good run before she became a coked-up wash-out."). Finn looks mildly confused and laughs about twenty seconds after each punchline ("Ha! 98% chance it's raining, but it already is!"), and Kurt is nestled lazily in Blaine's arms, and smiling and content. A blanket drapes over both of them, and Kurt absentmindedly plays footsie with his boyfriend, to Blaine's pure delight.

There's a knock at the door, and Finn and Kurt rock-paper-scissors over who will answer it. Finn loses miserably (Kurt has realized that Finn only ever uses rock), but he whines insufferably about how he really wants to finish the movie especially since Kurt and Blaine says he should, and how he swears he'll answer the door next time. Finn is being such a brat that Kurt gets up from the couch just to get Finn to stop whining.

The woman at the door is someone Kurt has never met, but knows right away. There's no mistaking those dark hazel eyes, the expressive eyebrows, the chocolate hair, the pale skin. He tenses immediately, preparing to close the door, when the woman puts her foot in the doorway. She looks at him, her eyes boring desperately into him, and pleads. "Don't."

"What are you doing here?" Kurt knows that the voice that comes out of him isn't his own. It's cruel and clipped—something characteristic of his usual coolness, but the animosity of it surprises him. "What do you want? I will call the police," he seethes quietly, knowing that Blaine and Kurt are in the family room, and he doesn't want to notify either one of them that there's something wrong in the slightest.

"Please," the woman breathes pathetically, and Kurt almost slams the door right then, but restrains himself for Blaine's sake. Kurt may hate the woman in front of him with all of his heart, but she is still Blaine's mom and Blaine loves her. It's so damning, but Blaine loves her—she is important to Blaine, in spite of the fact that she failed to help him as her husband was beating her son, failed to help him when he cried coming home after being pummeled for being "different," failed to help him when he finally worked up the bravery to tell her the truth.

"Please," Mrs. Anderson starts again, "I just want to see him..."

Her voice trails off and she's looking somewhere behind Kurt, and Kurt turns to see Blaine, his body slack against the wall, his face pale and drawn, his eyes open and raw and hurting. And with a whimper, Blaine pulls his hands over his face; his knees buckle and he collapses to the floor.

Goddamn it.

Goddamn it.

It has taken Kurt the last two months to rebuild Blaine into a semblance of what he was before it happened, and in two minutes Mrs. Anderson has destroyed it all.

What Kurt wanted to happen was to slam the door shut and call the police and send Finn outside with a bucket of pee balloons to chase the woman away. What Kurt wanted was his dad to be there, his gruff, stern dad, to tell her firmly to "get the hell off my property." What Kurt wanted to do was coax Blaine into his bed and kiss him all over and soothe him and watch When Harry Met Sally like everything is okay. Kurt wanted to rewind back to the point where he and Finn were playing rock-paper-scissors because then he would make Finn go answer the door because even big, hulking Finn would have known how to deal with this than Kurt.

What had happened was that Kurt had rushed to Blaine's side immediately, but so did Mrs. Anderson. What had happened was Blaine asking, "Why you are here?" and his mom saying simultaneously through choked sobs, "Baby, I've missed you." And with a whimper—the vulnerable one that Kurt had only seen that night—Blaine curls up into his mom's embrace when Kurt is standing there thinking that all of this is so wrong.

Because it is wrong! Mrs. Anderson has been a terrible mother and she doesn't deserve to be loved and appreciated in the way that Blaine loves her. (Kurt tries so hard to convince himself that he's upset because Mrs. Anderson is terrible and Blaine deserves better—like him—not because he wants to be Blaine's knight again).

And now, in kind of a sick repeated sequence, Finn, Kurt, and Blaine are sitting on the couch as Burt and Carole have a not-so-quiet chat in the kitchen. Kurt is awash with deja vu as this scene he already knows plays out again. Again, Blaine shudders with every escalating shout, and Kurt rubs his back and kisses his temples, and Finn looks at the floor.

"You think I'm going to let him go home with you after what you did-"

"It wasn't me-"

"You're damn right it wasn't you! You didn't do anything-"

"How could you-"

"Why on earth didn't you say anything-"

"I was scared-"

"He is your child. You are a poor excuse at a mother-"

"He's my son! You have no right to this-"

"He was being abused-"

"I can still call-"

Blaine's expression is one of stark misery, and Kurt soothes him. "Blaine, let's go." Finn is nodding in agreement, and Kurt's heart is wrenching, and Blaine nods. Blaine nods as his eyes spike with tears and his face is awash with anxiety, as Kurt grabs his hand and starts leading him to his room. Blaine stumbles and falls and curls up on the floor, shaking with emotion, and Kurt is trying to help him up, and before he knows it, Finn has picked up Blaine like he's nothing more than a small child.

Thank God for Finn, Kurt is thinking, as he watches Blaine shudder in Finn's arms. Finn's face is one set with utter resolve and determination, and he follows Kurt to his room and sets Blaine down on his bed.

Blaine's face is blank—he doesn't look the least bit embarrassed about being carried by Finn—and though Kurt is happy about this, he's a bit concerned. Blaine has been so worried about making himself seem in control lately, that Kurt wants some semblance that he's okay.

But Blaine doesn't say anything, he just weeds his fingers together and wrings his hands and looks down at the floor, and Kurt sits down on the bed next to him. Finn is pacing Kurt's room like a madman as if he's trying to figure out what he can do or where he can go, and finally with a sigh, plops down on the floor and flips open his phone and tries to pretend he's texting Rachel. Kurt wishes he would leave, but he knows Finn doesn't want to walk past the kitchen where all the screaming is happening and Blaine doesn't seem bothered by Finn's presence, so Kurt gently squeezes Blaine's hands as Blaine tries not to cry.

The door opens and Kurt's heart jumps in anxiety. Standing in the doorway are his dad and Carole and her. Burt's expression is one of blunt seriousness and Carole is wringing her hands in a way similar to Blaine, and she... she walks over to Blaine and hugs him. She kisses his forehead and runs her hands over his shoulders.

Barely above a whisper, Mrs. Anderson looks down at her son. "Blaine, sweetie, it's time to come home."

Kurt is being damned selfish.

He knows this and he will admit it, but that doesn't stop him from being angry and resentful all the same.

He plays the scene over and over again in his head. Blaine, shaking hands with Burt and thanking him so much for everything the past two months. Blaine, hugging a crying Carole, who kisses the top of his forehead and tells him "don't be a stranger." Blaine, who Finn lifts off the ground in a bear hug, who Finn tells, "I kind of liked having you here."

Blaine, who kisses Kurt in front of everyone and tells him that he'll see him soon.

He knows that Blaine wanted to go home more than anything and he knows that Blaine will call if anything bad happens and he knows that Blaine's parents are trying to change, but Kurt wants Blaine back. He wants to have Blaine at the dinner table, wiggling his expressive eyebrows as he tells the Hudson-Hummels about the Warblers' latest escapades, he wants to hear Blaine talking sports with his father, he wants to hear Blaine's too-loud chuckle when Finn tells a joke that isn't funny (but everybody laughs anyways to make him feel better). He misses having Blaine help him with his Marc Jacobs collages and helping him choose out what to wear for the day.

And he misses it most at night. He misses crawling out to Blaine's cot to curl up next to him, or having Blaine sneak into his bedroom. He misses curling up in the familiar curve of Blaine's body and feeling Blaine's warm breaths on the back of his neck. He misses the kisses, misses the looks of utter adoration, the sleepy "Good nights" and "I love yous."

Kurt misses Blaine so much it hurts.

He knows that he still sees Blaine on the weekends and Blaine still comes to McKinley after school and sometimes takes Kurt out to lunch, but it's so different from having Blaine in his house, physical and real all the time.

Kurt is no stranger to loss. He lost his mother when he was eight, and he remembers (and still feels) the dull aching in his heart when he realizes how much he misses her. Losing Blaine is not anywhere as bad, but not really better either. It's different.

No, Blaine isn't dead (thank God), and Blaine isn't hurt or in the hospital. Things could be so much worse, but Kurt never realized how integral having Blaine was in his every day life is... until Blaine is gone.

Kurt knows he's being a terrible boyfriend. He's not happy that things are working out better between Blaine and his parents. He's not happy Blaine is home.

He just wants Blaine back.

And the damning thought that keeps creeping up in the back of his mind—that Blaine chose them over him—won't leave him alone.

Kurt really is selfish.

Kurt should have suspected something when he woke up and it was raining like the day Blaine showed up on his doorstep. He should have known that something bad was going to happen, that dark clouds and rainstorms are just a foreshadowing of something imminently terrible.

But Kurt doesn't suspect the slightest thing, and he goes into the kitchen and carefully make himself a bowl of oatmeal. Everybody else in the Hudson-Hummel household is missing—Carole and Burt have gone out for a romantic couples' brunch and Finn is sleeping, as usual.

And that's when he gets the call.

Minutes later, Kurt is sitting and cradling his bowl of oatmeal and nursing a cup of hot coffee. He can't breathe at all, a lump is forming in his throat, and he just feels numb. The coffee should be scalding—there's hot steam coming off of it in little, smoky clouds—but Kurt ignores this and takes a sip without blowing on it.

The coffee is cold.

Kurt doesn't know if the coldness is from the drink or from the weather or from his insides where everything has turned to cold ice and is collapsing inside of him. The tears crawl down his face slowly, and he takes another sip of the burning coffee, wondering if it will always taste this cold.

This is how Finn finds him, sitting pathetically at the kitchen table. The first thing that tips Finn off is that Kurt is wearing sweatpants and a massive sweatshirt (that might be Finn's, Finn's not sure). At first he thinks that Kurt has just decided to put "chic and fashionable" on hold for the day, and is about to ask his stepbrother about it, when his eyes stop on Kurt's red, miserable face.

Kurt has never cried prettily. His tears down come down in delicate rivulets, they make his face blotchy and sickly looking. His lips are pursed so tight they're almost a line, and his eyes are wells of anguish. He sits there, his fingers wrapped around a mug of coffee.

"Kurt?" Finn asks, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He sits down in the chair next to his stepbrother. "Kurt, what's wrong man?"

When Kurt doesn't answer, Finn starts pulling accusations out of the air. "Was it Karofsky or Azimio? I will kick their asses, I swear to God. Kurt, tell me who hurt you-"

"Can we please just let this go?" Kurt speaks, and his voice is hoarse with distress and Finn can barely hear him. Kurt feels a numbness crawling from his insides out and he prays that the feeling will eventually reach his heart because then it will start hurting so damn much.

"Kurt, man, what can I do?" Kurt can feel Finn's big hands on his shoulders—his brother with a heart of gold, his brother who has sworn that he'll protect Kurt from now on—

—but how the hell is Finn supposed to protect Kurt from this?

With a sob, Kurt turns to Finn and buries his face in Finn's shirt, hoping that he will suffocate so that he doesn't have to feel anymore. Kurt feels Finn's fingers clench protectively around his shoulders as he hugs him, and he can imagine Finn's expression of utter confusion, but thank God for Finn—Finn doesn't say anything. Finn sits there and hugs Kurt and lets him cry. Kurt can feel the mucus from his nose dripping onto Finn's cotton t-shirt, he can feel his eyes burning as more tears come, he can feel his body shaking in Finn's solid grasp.

Kurt thinks back to the previous year where he would have sold his soul to have Finn hold him like this, but this isn't what he wants anymore and he would do anything to have Finn be him.

Finn is shushing him awkwardly like a worried mother and Kurt clings onto his shirt, hoping the numbness will come back and give his heart some rest. Kurt had never wanted a brother, but he is so grateful for Finn.

"H-his parents are—were—getting divorced," Kurt says, his head still nestled in the crook of Finn's shoulder. He shudders, and Finn holds onto him harder. Kurt sniffles, new tears stabbing his eyes. "H-he thinks that..." his voice shakes and he wills himself to continue, "if he is d-d-different, if he's straight," Kurt spits out the word with disgust, his voice laced with misery, "things will c-c-change and he can s-save his parents' m-marriage."

Kurt pauses, a new onslaught of tears burning his eyes, and allows Finn to marinate in the new information.

"God Kurt, I'm sorry," Finn says, tightening his hold on Kurt, "God Kurt, that's terrible."

"He says we c-can't be anymore, t-there can't be a-anymore us." Kurt's voice cracks on the last word, arching onto a higher note, and the coldness swallows him.

He knows that Finn can't fix this, but he's grateful when Finn just sits there and lets him cry. He doesn't know how long he cries for, but he knows that Finn doesn't leave.

Author's Note: I hope you guys enjoyed this! If you guys review, it would mean so much to me. Courage has been my second most added story to Story Alerts (96 Story Alerts and 37 favorites) but it is nowhere near being my most reviewed. 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!) Finn and Kurt brother relationship is one of my favorite things to write.

I probably won't update this for awhile... (unless I get an insane amount of feedback), because I'm working on other Glee fictions but if you'd like to see some more KLAINE, please check out Small Steps. Kurt and Blaine aren't mentioned in the first installment, but they (and their relationship) will be included in all the dramatic, angsty, fluffiness.

Much love,

strawberryfinn