It occurred to Blaine that he couldn't prove that Karofsky had assaulted Kurt by just showing people the picture he'd taken on his phone. They might say that anyone could've given Kurt those bruises. Also, Blaine was skeptical as to whether any McKinley High students would admit to seeing Karofsky push Kurt into the lockers, and it was easy for Karofsky to tell Principal Figgins that Kurt's friends were making it up, if Blaine did get them to speak up. He didn't know how much influence Kurt had on the student body. Sure, he was a Cheerio, but he was also openly gay, which was far from accepted in that Podunk little town, and he was in the glee club, which was social suicide at McKinley. Blaine suspected that the only reason why Santana and Brittany didn't get ridiculed was because they were considered "hot" and because they were female. If Karofsky or any of the football players laid a hand on them, they'd be expelled and arrested quicker than lightning.
Blaine sympathized with Kurt, even if he was making him keep their non-relationship a secret. He wasn't doing it because he was hiding the fact that he liked boys. No, Kurt was very open and proud about that. He was hiding the fact that he like Blaine. As annoyed as this made Blaine, he had to admire Kurt for being confident enough in a world that was critical of anything different. Kurt Hummel had guts.
But it still left Blaine in a complicated state of wondering what he could do that would guarantee that Kurt stay safe. He quickly realized as he drove to school that there was no way of making sure Kurt wouldn't be assaulted again if he didn't notify the authorities; Principal Figgins, Coach Sylvester, Mr. Shuester, or Kurt's dad, and that was something Kurt had made him promise not to do.
Blaine sighed in frustration. He couldn't just sit around and let Karofsky shove Kurt into lockers and do god knows what else to him, but because they weren't really a couple, Blaine had no right to speak up for the countertenor.
For a second, he thought, "Screw Kurt and his stupid pride!" He thought, as he pulled into the parking lot in front of McKinley, that he could just go in and tell Principal Figgins everything right then and there and show him the photo on his phone. Then he could deal with Kurt's anger or rejection later. It was extremely tempting, except for the fact that there was a chance Principal Figgins wouldn't believe Blaine, even with the picture, and then what would Blaine have? Nothing. No proof and definitely no Kurt…ever again.
"Ugh, this is stupid!" Blaine grumbled as he stepped out of his car and swung his messenger bag across his chest.
He was almost to the door of the main building when his phone rang.
Drawing it out, he read the number on the screen but it was unrecognizable.
"Hello?"
"How's it going, Blaine? You on your way to that pathetic little public school?"
Blaine froze on the steps. "Sebastian," he muttered through his teeth. "Why are you calling me?"
"I missed the sound of your Danny Zuko voice."
"I gotta go." Blaine quickly pushed past two girls blocking the entrance.
"Now, wait a second, Blainey," Sebastian's voice rose before he could snap his phone shut. "I was hoping you'd want to meet me later to talk about that appalling incident that happened at Sectionals.."
Blaine paused in the hallway.
"You know, when your…friend hit me."
Blaine, ignoring Sebastian's sarcastic tone around the word 'friend', asked, "So you're not going to make a stink about it? You're not pressing charges?"
"I might reconsider," Sebastian leered from the other end.
"Did Mr. Shuester email you?"
"Your choir director did send me a very lengthy and dare I say, eloquently desperate letter of apology, but I still want to talk to you, Blaine. Offer my own apology, if that's okay."
Blaine held his breath for a minute while he mulled over Sebastian's words. He didn't trust him one little bit. He knew Sebastian had something up his sleeve, but he figured it wasn't anything he couldn't deal with. After all, he had survived a whole year as his boyfriend, drugs, parties, shame and all. Blaine wasn't the same naïve kid he used to be. He could handle Sebastian now.
"Okay, where do you want to meet?"

"Blaine, please stand next to Rachel," Mr. Shuester instructed Blaine during glee practice later that day.
Blaine nodded stiffly and stepped down from the risers where he'd been poised between Kurt and Mercedes, going to stand next to the female vocalist who flashed him an appraising smile.

Her boyfriend, however, didn't look too happy with this arrangement.

"But Mr. Shue," Finn declared. "We're doing a duet and Rachel and I are the usual leads in those."
"Yes, I know that, Finn," the choir director said in a tone that implied he was trying to be super patient with the stubborn teen. "But I want to experiment with Blaine's vocal range a little more and see how it compliments Rachel's tones. I think for this number, your voice type would work better accompanying Artie and Puck."
Finn's eyebrows furrowed and he cast Blaine a withering glare before silently making his way to where Artie and Puck were positioned.
"Welcome to back of the line, superstar," Puck smirked at Finn's bleak face. "Or should I say, super-sop."
Finn rolled his eyes. "That's not even clever, man."
His brown eyes burned holes into Blaine's back as he heard him belt out the first note beside Rachel.

Blaine didn't know how to approach Karofsky or even find him, for that matter, but he knew Sam, Puck, Mike, Artie and Finn would, though he was reluctant to ask them, given that he didn't know how to explain his reason for wanting to see that bastard.
And it was then that he remembered Quinn Fabray, the ex-cheerleader. She would probably know how he could go about this without drawing too much attention to himself or Kurt, seeing as she'd dated jocks before and knew how they reacted most of the time. Also, it occurred to Blaine, that even though Kurt had made him promise not to tell anyone about his bruises, Quinn might be the only exception, the one person he could trust for two reasons; one being that she was detached from the glee club so she wouldn't find the need to get involved, and second, it sound irrational but Blaine felt a strange yet endearing connection to her since they'd met his first day of school.
He knew he was probably making a mistake but he was running out of options too.
"Hey, Puck," Blaine addressed the Quinn's ex-boyfriend at the end of glee practice that afternoon. "Do you know where Quinn is? I need to ask her something about our Biology assignment."
Puck, who had been chatting with Finn, gave Blaine a shrug. "Haven't seen her today. She probably cut class again. I'll give you her number, though."
He fished inside the pocket of his ragged jeans for his cell phone, while Blaine avoided eye contact with Finn who was staring daggers at him not so subtly.
Blaine didn't want to be bothered with Finn's pettiness today. He had more complicated things to worry about, like protecting Kurt, the boy he sort of liked.
"Here," Puck said, showing Blaine the numbers on the screen of his cell phone.
Blaine punched them into his own phone, thanked Puck, and dashed out the choir room door.

"Quinn?"
"Who is this?" the voice that drawled on the other end of the line was bored and slightly irritated. It also sounded like a chain-smoker's and Blaine knew that Puck had given him the right number.
"This is Blaine," he responded as he unlocked the front door of his house and dropped his bag in the entrance, moving towards the living room.
"Oh, hey cutie. What's up?"
"I wanted to talk to about something…well, someone, actually."
"Uhuh," Quinn replied monotonously. "You need some sex advice?"
Blaine grunted as he sat down on the couch, his cheeks flushing a little as he recalled the afternoon Kurt had come over for the first time and they'd made out on that very spot. Kurt's chest had risen and fallen beneath his touch and their lips had carelessly moved together in a frantic passion..
"Umm, no. But I do need some advice, just not that."
"Bummer. Okay, what do you need, hot stuff?"
Blaine chewed on his bottom lip before saying, "It's about Kurt. He's.. being harassed by Karofsky, like really bad, and I think things have gone too far. The last time I saw him, Kurt had bruises and-"
"Boy, that's old news," Quinn interrupted with a sigh. "Kurt has been taking crap from the football players since the beginning of time."
Blaine suddenly felt his anger flare. "But it doesn't make it right! Quinn, his back was covered in bruises and he made me promise not to tell anyone because he's afraid of his dad finding out but I can't just pretend I didn't see anything. I even took a picture with my phone while he wasn't looking.. It just looked so awful.."
To his surprise, Blaine's breath hitched on the last word and his voice trembled. He swept a hand through his hair and glanced up at the ceiling as his eyes started to sting. He couldn't remember the last time he'd cried.
There was a long pause on the other end of the phone and Blaine wondered if Quinn had grown bored and hung up. Mercifully, though, she came back on and her voice sounded more patient this time.
"That's horrible, Blaine, but the truth is, nobody gives a damn, not even Figgins. Coach Sylvester might seem like she cares but really she just doesn't want one of her Cheerios hospitalized before she can land another championship. I think you have no choice but to tell Mr. Hummel. Maybe he'll take Kurt out of school completely and he'll be safer somewhere else."
Blaine shook his head. "I don't think that's what he wants.. No, I'm pretty sure it's not. Kurt loves his friends and being a Cheerio. He loves being popular, even if it's the tiniest bit of popularity. He'll hate me if I went to his dad."
"Well, what about Coach Beiste? You don't have to show her the picture, just tell her that Karofsky's bad news and I think she'll take it more seriously."
Blaine exhaled sharply. "That's not a bad idea. I'm just worried it won't stop Karofsky from hurting Kurt more."
"If he does, then you'll have no choice, Blaine. You'll have to tell Kurt's dad or the cops."
"I could always blackmail him," Blaine voiced David's suggestion.
To his chagrin, Quinn laughed. "Yeah, that only works in soap operas. Karofsky's the dumbest muscle-head I know. You threaten him, even with proof of what he did, and he'll just break your face and your phone. Trust me. The smart thing to do is what I just told you; go warn Coach Beiste about what her team is doing to Kurt and if that doesn't work, then take the picture to the cops."
"Yeah, but-"
"And as for Kurt hating you, then there are a lot of other cute boys you can hook up with."
"Not really," Blaine said with a weak smile on his face. "At least, there aren't many cute out and proud guys, especially not at McKinley."
"Kurt isn't out and proud," Quinn sniffed. "He's just stubborn. Everybody already knows he's itching to get in your pants, if he hasn't already."
Blaine paled. "Nothing like that has happened. The little stuff we did Kurt wants to keep secret, says I'll damage his reputation." Blaine couldn't resist rolling his eyes.
Quinn laughed. "That's pathetic. Anyway, you guys aren't doing such a good job at hiding the sexual tension is what I hear. Santana was going on about how you two were flirting up at storm at Sectionals and how Kurt threw a fit when she grabbed your ass."
Blaine groaned. "I don't even know what the big deal is. It's not like anyone else but Kurt and Finn care about my reputation. Not even Mr. Shue is concerned that I got kicked out of Dalton."
"Baby," Quinn said like Blaine was the most naïve person in the world. "Kurt cares because he's starting to like you and he's worried that his dad won't want him dating you if the whole marijuana scandal reaches Mr. Hummel's overprotective ears. Believe me, Kurt's dad is like a freaking bloodhound when it comes to friends and stuff. It surprises me that Kurt's managed to keep the whole bullying thing a secret for so long, actually."
Blaine muttered, "He must work extra hard to hide it."
Kurt's behavior was starting to really frustrate him; all the secrecy. It was what Blaine had sworn to himself that he wouldn't get involved in again. And yet, here he was, feeling guilty about someone's else's problems..
"Kurt's also probably worried that you'll break up with him-"
Quinn's next words snapped Blaine out of his reverie.
"Why do you say that?" he asked, genuinely confused.
Quinn scoffed primly. "Because, you are Blaine the bad-ass, ex-private school hottie with the sexy hips and dangerous eyes. Though arrogant and relatively interesting, Kurt is still a virgin!" Quinn emphasized the last word. "If things go too far and Kurt starts, heaven forbid, falling in love and you guys actually do something more than just kiss or frolic or whatever the hell you're doing, he's going to be scared to death that you won't be satisfied and dump him cold for a more experience piece of twinkie ass."
"Quinn, that's ridiculous-" Blaine began but Quinn just continued as if he hadn't spoken.
"Finn just cares about your so-called reputation because he's jealous."
"But I do think Kurt is sexy," Blaine thought to himself. He had to admit, though, that what the ex-Cheerio was telling him did make sense. He remembered seeing the shy look on Kurt's face after their first make-out and how he'd stuttered over his sentences while Blaine's hands had exploring his stomach and chest..
Blaine could see how someone like Kurt would be shaken up if his first time having sex didn't turn out well. After all, Blaine used to be someone like Kurt.
"But I'm not going to hurt him," He decided out loud right then, even if it sounded improbable in his mind.
Quinn sighed. "Kurt is easily wounded, as if you haven't noticed."
"I have," Blaine answered bitterly.
"Maybe you should've picked one of the skanks, instead," Quinn said, half-jokingly.
"But I still want him," Blaine insisted quietly. "I still want him to want me."