Hello again! a lot of you seem to be enjoying my stories, so I'd just like to say thank you for making me feel good :) now on to the story!

SPOV

Where am I?

Everything hurts, and there's an obnoxious beeping noise coming from somewhere over my head. I want nothing more than to sink back into the blackness so that I don't have to feel this pain. But no matter how hard I try, I can't slip back into unconsciousness. Instead, I try to figure out where I am.

I'm lying down on something, and there's what feels like a blanket over me, but it's too scratchy to be my own, so that rules out being in my bed. There's a voice coming from somewhere to the right of me, and, though I can't make out the words, it's beautiful. Whoever the voice belongs to is holding one of my hands. Slowly, I open my eyes to see who's here. It takes a minute for them to adjust to the brightness, but I can see that I'm in a hospital, and that the voice belongs to one Blaine Anderson, who is smiling at me.

"How're you feeling?" he asks.

It takes a minute to get my voice out. "I've been better." Suddenly, I remember something. "You said you never wanted to see me again. What are you doing here? And what am I doing here?"

There is sadness in his face. "Think hard," he says softly, and waits as the flashes of memory come through.

My father. He was angry. I was on the floor. There was blood. He forced his way into me, and then left me there, bleeding and broken.

I don't realize that I'm crying until Blaine reaches out and wipes away a tear. "It's okay," he murmurs. "You're safe now."

"Where do you come into this?" I ask. "You were mad at me a few hours ago."

Blaine sighs heavily. "I know, but I felt terrible about some of the things I said, so I went to apologize to you. The door was open and broken, and I thought something bad might have happened, so I went in. I found you on the floor."

Of course. Of all the people who could have found me, it had to be him. I remember little bits of what happened after he came. I remember him holding my hand, telling me that everything would be alright. I remember the panic when they took him away from me and the relief when they let him back.

"I don't understand why you helped me," I say quietly. "I've done nothing but screw up your life. Hell, I've done nothing but screw up everyone else's lives too."

He shakes his head. "We both know that's not true, Sebastian. What happened between me and Kurt had nothing to do with you. And besides, even if that was true, I still would have helped you."

This comment confuses me. "Why? I've done nothing but make trouble."

"Because," he says firmly, "You were hurt, and scared, and all alone, and I know how that feels."

I try to ask him how he'd know, but just then a sharp pain runs through my entire body. It's so sudden that I gasp.

Blaine notices. "What's wrong?" he asks, concerned.

"Everything hurts," I tell him somewhat begrudgingly.

He calls a nurse over, who injects something into my IV. Almost immediately, the pain disappears, and I close my eyes in relief.

"It was your dad, wasn't it?" Blaine asks quietly.

My eyes fly open again. I think about lying to him, but I just can't summon the strength to do it, especially not after he saved my life, so I nod. "How did you know?"

He looks sad again. "When I found you, your eyes were closed, and when I touched you the first time you pulled away. You…you begged me not to hurt you anymore, and you said 'dad'. You said you could change."

Now that he's mentioned it, I remember saying those things. I thought my father had come back to do it again. I feel like I should be more embarrassed about breaking down like that than I am.

"He did this to you because you're gay?" Blaine asks.

"That was his excuse this time. If it wasn't for that he'd have found something else to beat me over," I try to say as calmly as possible. He's been hitting me ever since my mom died. That was eight years ago."

"And you never told anyone?"

I shake my head. "I couldn't. Usually I'm able to hide it, but this time was…worse than the others."

"Sebastian, you were bleeding to death on the floor and you've got four broken ribs, and all you can say is 'it was worse that the others'?" he says, exasperated.

I don't answer, and he continues, softer this time. "Seb, I'm not stupid or blind. I know where you were bleeding from. He raped you, didn't he?"

I cringe at the word, because having it said aloud makes it so much more real. I nod silently as tears start coursing down my cheeks again, and I make no move to hide them. Blaine already knows that I'm broken and weak underneath the mask; there's no point in continuing the charade.

Carefully, Blaine wraps his arms around me. "I'm so sorry," he whispers. And, for the first time in years, I feel safe enough to stop hiding behind a disguise and let someone see the real me.

He holds me tightly as I let loose all the emotions I've been holding back all these years. He doesn't say much; just lets me let everything out, and when I'm done he pulls back a few inches to look at me.

"I'm so sorry he did those things to you. But I promise I'm never going to let anyone else hurt you even again, alright?" I nod.

"Now," he says, "If you want to, we can tell the police what he did to you. We could get him locked up for a long, long time."

But I shake my head hard. "No!" I say louder than I'd intended. "I can't. I don't want to have to tell people and face him again, and that's exactly what I'll have to do in a trial. I just don't want to see him ever again."

Blaine rubs my back soothingly. "Alright, you don't have to if you don't want to. But you can't stay in that house anymore; not with someone capable of something like this. Why don't you stay with me?"

For a moment I consider how strange this whole thing is. Not in my wildest dreams did I think I'd end up needing someone, or letting someone see me vulnerable. But then I remember that everything is different now.

"Are you sure? I mean, I wouldn't want to impose. You've already done so much-" but he cuts me off.

"I'm sure. I just want you to be safe, and this way I can make sure of that."

"Well, okay then." I say. "I'd love too."

So what do you think? Again, I really love nothing more than reviews; they make me happy, so press that button! Thanks for reading!

~TheSongSmith