Author's Note: And here's chapter 3 for you! :) Sorry the update took so long! I've been so busy and everything's been so hectic and I've been battling a dangerous addiction to... One Direction. Lord help me.

Summary: There's a ring of dark purple bruises on the underside of his arm. "Blaine," Kurt asks, aghast, "what happened?" "Nothing," answers Blaine, but he won't meet Kurt's eyes. Klaine Future!Fic

Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Romance/Angst/Drama

Rating: T (for now)

Warnings: abuse, self-harm, depression, language

Pairings: Eventual Kurt/Blaine (Klaine)

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Blaine Anderson or Kurt Hummel or Darren Criss or Chris Colfer. There would be a lot more Klaine if I did and Darren would be married to me and Chris would be my bff.

Second Chances

Chapter Three

If encountering Blaine in the supermarket was unnerving at all for Kurt, he's practically forgotten about the chance meeting by the next day. Tina and Mike's wedding is coming up, and as one of Tina's bridesmaids, (he prefers to think of himself as her fashion consultant and if need be, her go-to Sassy Gay Friend), Kurt has been running errands left and right, gone with Tina to countless dress fittings, tasted endless samples of cakes, looked at various color schemes, and so on. Kurt's done a much better job at wedding planning than Tina's pitiful Maid of Honor—Tina's sister or not, the girl lacks any sort of expertise as far as wedding design is concerned.

The argument he has with the florist over the necessity of having stark white orchids in blue marble beads is the start of a long week. Next, he fights with the baker making Tina's cake about the minimalism than must go into the groom's cake and how though minimalist, Tina's cake shouldn't overpower it, and how the joint wedding cake should be a stunning mesh of the groom's simplicity and the bride's flair for fashion. Honestly, Kurt could make a better cake than the guy—what are they even paying this baker for? He screeches at the fellow bridesmaids when he sees that they've picked up dresses that clearly don't fit properly—honestly, Rachel Berry—where is she living, the 1800s?—because there is no reason her dress needs to reach her ankles. He comforts the sobbing Tina when she's stressed herself out so much about the wedding planning and marrying Mike that she's lost a little too much weight and her dress is slightly baggy, and makes sure to coax some chocolate into her too. The dress rehearsal basically takes it all out of him and by the end of the week, he's almost relieved.

Almost, because the wedding is the next day, and he—no, Tina, he reminds himself—has a lot riding on him.

But the day arrives and Tina is one of the loveliest brides he's ever seen. She's a vision in a lace sweetheart gown that is classic enough to be timeless but also fashion forward enough to be original. She wears a full lace veil (Kurt wasn't impressed by the birdcage), and Kurt can feel his eyes sting with tears as he focuses on getting her ready. Mike isn't half bad himself, looking tall and strong up at the front of the aisle in his cleanly pressed tuxedo and his eyes nearly bugging out of his head as he looks down at his future wife.

Kurt's so busy staying focused on his bride and making sure Tina is doing justice to the glamorous silver heels he helped pick out that he doesn't notice Blaine is among the guests until the end of the ceremony.

At first, it feels like he's been hit by a wave of shock. Blaine? What is he doing here?

But then the answer seems obvious. Of course Blaine's there. He was one of Mike's really good friends in high school after all, and though all of the past Glee Club members know about the fallout between Blaine and Kurt, some of them didn't necessarily take sides. After all, high school seems like a world away compared to now.

Kurt watches as Blaine claps wholeheartedly as Mike and Tina kiss, and then he blanches as a cool, suited arm slips across Blaine's shoulders.

It's him.

oOo

Kurt spots them again at the reception immediately following the wedding.

Guests have been whisked off to a glamorous ballroom for the second part of the wedding celebration, and the whole place has been transformed into a winter wonderland of sorts. Kurt stares in awe at the glowing crystal chandeliers, the dramatic, royal purple drapery he argued for when they were decorating. Glasses full of floating orchids glow under the lights, and the whole look is refined and polished. The cake is radiant with garlands of purple orchids and the dance floor gleams, freshly polished.

Tina is elegant and beautiful as Mike leads her onto the dance floor for the first dance. Kurt's face breaks into a wide smile as they break from the conventions and start whipping out insane dance moves that include Mike wriggling on the ground as a worm, followed by Tina shimmying for all she's worth, and closing with some breathtaking contemporary dance moves that only the two of them could pull off. Mike's dancing career isn't going anywhere soon—that's for sure.

Kurt sighs audibly in happiness.

Chandler nudges him affectionately, flipping his sheet of golden hair. "Look what a good job you did, babe." He grins teasingly, "Tina's getting married in style, thanks to you."

"Well this is my area of expertise," Kurt replies loftily. Chandler loops in and presses a kiss to Kurt's cheek and brushes his eyelashes lightly against Kurt's skin in an eskimo kiss.

"Well aren't you a cheeky little thing," Chandler whispered, from where his face was pressed against Kurt's cheek.

Kurt could feel the warmth of Chandler's breath on his skin, and took a shuddery breath. "You know you love it."

"I do love you so, Kurt Hummel," Chandler drawls lazily. "It might be the death of me."

Kurt's about to reply when his eyes rest on them. Blaine, the smaller boy with chocolate hair, sandwiched next to the boy with the shit-eating grin and the brown hair and those evil green eyes. Sebastian.

How the hell did Sebastian make it onto Mike and Tina's guest list? Kurt racks his brain to think of why on earth the Asians would ever invite him, before he realizes Sebastian is probably Blaine's plus one, just like Chandler is Kurt's guest for the night.

Sebastian's leering gaze catches Kurt's eyes, and his stupid smirk climbs knowingly even further up his ugly chiseled face.

Kurt stiffens as Sebastian leans in and whispers something in Blaine's ear—Blaine flushes a shade of scarlet, looking rather uncomfortable as the taller man with the chipmunk-like face puts a hand not so subtlely on Blaine's thigh.

Almost noticing Kurt's tenseness immediately, Chandler glances up to see what Kurt is looking at. His eyes follow his boyfriend's gaze to Blaine and Sebastian sitting together at a dining table—both looking out of place but obviously wrapped up in their own world as Sebastian leans in and starts nibbling at Blaine's ear. Then, out of nowhere, Sebastian has a hand deep in Blaine's black pants.

Blaine practically moans out loud. His eyes are shut and anybody who didn't see Sebastian's hand tunneling in Blaine's paints might think Blaine is in pain.

Honestly, the nerve! This is Mike and Tina's wedding they're at—how dare Sebastian and Blaine trivialize the day for them? Kurt knows Sebastian has no place here and he's an asshole and therefore can't be held accountable for his actions, but Blaine? Blaine is Mike's friend—the least he can do is be decent at Mike's wedding!

Kurt doesn't realize how upset and fuming he is until he feels Chandler's fingers in his hands, trying to unfurl his fists from where his nails are digging neat little indentations into his palms. Kurt struggles to keep his breath steady, restrains himself from leaping across the room claws extended and murdering the both of them—the stupid meerkat and that inconsiderate imbecile!

Instead, he fights off his urge to barge over there, guns ablazing.

"I have to go to the bathroom," he tells Chandler in a tight, pinched voice.

The blonde looks worriedly at him, eyebrows raised under dark-framed glasses. "Kurt, baby, you okay?"

"I'm fine," Kurt's reply is terse, and he instantly feels guilty about the hurt look on Chandler's face. "Chandler, sweetheart, I'm okay. I just have to go to the restroom. You stay out here and get some canapes—I understand the lobster puffs are supposed to be divine."

Chandler's face looks a bit more at ease as Kurt heads to the bathroom, but he can see the worry in his boyfriend's eyes none-the-less. But there's nothing Kurt can do to ease his discomfort other than squeeze Chandler's hand in reassurance to tell him he's not going to do anything drastic or stupid, and he heads off to the bathroom.

oOo

Kurt breathes heavily as he splashes cold water on his face. He can feel the rage radiating off of him as he stares at his angry reflection in the mirror. His blue eyes are ablaze with fury; his fingers are trembling as he thinks of the display Sebastian and Blaine were putting on upstairs.

How dare he? This is Mike and Tina's day, and all people are going to be able to talk about is how Sebastian and Blaine got their freak on during the couple's first dance.

Problem: Blaine is there.

As Kurt is fighting the horrific scowl that crawls onto his face in an effort to go out and be merry for his newly-wedded friends, the bathroom door opens and Blaine comes in, his hair mussed and rumpled, lips swollen and plump—the top two buttons of his white shirt unbuttoned.

"Well you have some nerve showing up here," Kurt says, caustically, eyeing his ex-boyfriend with disdain.

"Don't." Blaine's reply is tense and terse, and he twists the knob of the sink hurriedly, splashing water onto his face in a way similar to Kurt.

"Honestly, how disrespectful can you be? What was that display out there? Don't you have any self-respect or any morals whatsoever?" Kurt's hiss is escalating in volume and he can feel his body shake as he seethes with anger.

"Just stop, okay?" Blaine's ears are bright red, his face is flushed as he tries to button his shirt, and he turns away from Kurt.

"Blaine, I'm talking to you!" shrills Kurt, as he grabs Blaine's shoulder in an attempt to turn him to just look at him.

And Blaine's face crumples like a house of cards.

He lets out a yelp of unmistakable pain, and Kurt lets go of Blaine like he's dropping a red-hot coal.

"Blaine—are you okay?" The concern in Kurt's voice is undeniable, and he hates that he's showing any semblance of care for the man who made Kurt nearly hit rock bottom.

"I'm fine," is Blaine's defensive answer, and he pulls up the jacket of his suit but not before Kurt sees the dark bruises that line Blaine's neck and shoulderblade.

What the fuck?

"Blaine..." Kurt's voice wavers, and he wonders if asking the other man what's wrong will be of any use. After all, the last time he confronted Blaine, the man literally ran out of the supermarket.

"It's nothing," Blaine says again, this time with less conviction. His shoulders slump with defeat and he turns away from Kurt, hurriedly fixing and styling his hair. "Mike and Tina look great, don't you think?" he asks Kurt conversationally, as though he can just switch the subject completely.

"They're a stunning couple," Kurt agrees. He doesn't really know why he's going along with Blaine's game, and the pictures of the bruises on Blaine's neck and shoulderblade won't leave his mind.

"You did a great job," Blaine says, turning to look at Kurt. His hazel eyes are framed with dark lashes and Kurt is shocked to see that Blaine seems almost near tears.

"Thank you," whispers Kurt in reply, his eyes darting over every detail of Blaine's face. The face that he used to love so much—the face of his first boyfriend, those lips that gave him his first real kiss, those hands which he used to hold, the curls he used to run his fingers through.

And then Blaine's phone rings.

Kurt can almost see the panic rise in Blaine's eyes as he pulls out his phone and answers the call.

"Yes... Sebastian?" Blaine's voice is hesitant and a tone that Kurt can't quite discern. Bashfulness? Timidness?

"No... no, I'm just in the bathroom... No, there's no one here... I'll... I'll be right out, okay? Please don't be mad." Blaine's voice is heightening in scale and getting more and more meek, and Kurt frowns. Something is off here.

"...I know you don't know anyone here, Seb." Blaine's voice is imploring, "...Yes, okay, I owe you—I know." Blaine is hunched away from Kurt now, phone cradled to his ear, lines of distress creasing his forehead. "...Seb, I'll make it up to you... yes, anything you want, of course." At this, Blaine nearly purrs his promise and Kurt feels the initial anxiety and worry fade back into anger again. Here is Blaine, openly discussing his sex life with the boy he left Kurt for—un-fucking-believable.

Kurt knows he shouldn't care. He's happy with Chandler, he has a wonderful boyfriend and a wonderful life, but having Blaine here, flirting suggestively with Sebastian brings him back to that fateful conversation and argument that broke Kurt and Blaine's relationship. He's back to Burt's arms around him, running small circles on his back and whispering comforting words; back to the tears and the heated disappointment that welled up inside of him—that Blaine hadn't fought for him.

Kurt turns to walk briskly out of the bathroom, but he feels a feather light touch on his arm.

Whirling around, he sees that Blaine's hand is on his arm, and the younger man is looking at him with a strange look Kurt can't quite discern.

"You did a really good job," Blaine says, rather apologetically. He extends his hand hesitantly, and Kurt, not quite understanding, reaches out and shakes it.

It seems to be the right move and he can feel the small card that Blaine slips into his hand as he retracts his arm.

And then Blaine leaves the restroom, leaving Kurt standing there with a small business card.

Blaine's cellphone and work number are printed in a nice font on the front, and on the back, in Blaine's neatly scripted writing, it only says, Let's get coffee. Call me.

Author's Note: And eeeeeeeh, what do you think? Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed, favorited, alerted, etc.

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-sf