Hey everyone! So, I am very very VERY sorry for the huge delay on this first of all chapters. I had camp and stuff and I had to get ready for school (which I don't start until Sept. 8 just saying) and I had less time to write, and when I did have time, I didn't feel like it. Plus, so much happens to Klaine in NBK that it was a lot to write. I worked for like 2 months on this and it's done and I think it turned out pretty good and I hope you all enjoy it and thanks for sticking by me through this small hiatus thing. And thank you for all the nice reviews. I got loads of e-mails saying that this story was favorited loads of times, and it really means a lot to me. So thank you. Okay, on with the chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I am not Ryan Murphy. I do not own Glee or any of the characters. If I did, Kurt and Blaine would have had crazy hot sex by now.

Damn. Dalton Academy is nice. With its chandeliers and fancy murals on the wall and winding staircase that Blaine is currently descending, he's a little scared of what this Glee club will turn out to be. He slowly pulls off the pair of sunglasses he's been wearing and looks around at all the boys in navy blazers on the stairs. Everyone's rushing. But for what?

A boy passes him, seeming to be in a hurry. Blaine doesn't want to be a bother, but he taps the boy on the shoulder anyway.

"Excuse me?" he asks, and the boy turns around.

Oh.

Hello, good looking.

The boy's chocolate-colored hair was brushed over to one side, creating an off-part to the boy's left, and Blaine really wanted to run his fingers through it for some reason. His eyes were the brightest and most beautiful shade of blue Blaine had ever seen. He felt his knees buckle the tiniest bit when he locked eyes with the boy. He was wearing a blue blazer with red trimming, identical to the other boys milling around them. His left hand is grabbing onto the strap of a brown messenger bag, and his skin looks like porcelain and it's probably really soft and Blaine just wants to reach out and touch his soft skin and soft hair and just touch him everywhere and -

Wait a second.

What the fuck is going on?

Blaine hasn't even said two words to this guy and he's already fawning over him like a lovesick middle schooler. This boy could be a total sonfoabitch and be completely rude to him. But he's so pretty... Oh my god. Blaine needs serious help. Like, now.

The boy locks eyes with Blaine and his mouth falls open slightly. Blaine starts to think that maybe, he thinks Blaine's really pretty, too.

Asdfghjkl shut up, brain.

"Um, hi." Blaine finally says after what feels like way too long of pointing out every single flawless detail of this boy. "Can I ask you a question? I'm-I'm new here." Oh, why did he have to stutter? Whywhywhy? Calm down, Blaine. He's just a boy. A very, very pretty boy...He's probably a douche anyway.

The boy looks down, and the tiniest hint of a smile creeps on his face. "My name's Kurt," he says, sticking out his hand.

Oh. Okay. So maybe he's not a douche.

But Kurt. Kurt. That's a really nice name, Kurt. Blaine could definitely see himself moa-

NO. NO. NO. Stop it! Stop it right now, Blaine Anderson, before your hurt yourself!

Blaine's mouth falls open, wider than the boy, Kurt's did. He looks down at Kurt's outstretch hand, and oh yeah, he's supposed to shake it. Because that's what people do when they first meet. So he does. He takes Kurt's hand and shakes it for a second, introducing himself as simply "Blaine". And then he remembered he had a question. Right. Despite the fact that he was in close proximity to Kurt, the prettiest boy in the world, he would fulfill his mission. Spy on the Warblers. Okay, here we go.

"So, what exactly is going on?" he asks.

"The Warblers," Kurt replies, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He then proceeds to explain. "Every now and then, they throw an impromptu performance in the Senior Commons." He leans a little closer to Blaine. "Tends to shut the school down for a while."

Wait...their glee club was actually popular? And was that a wink? ...No. It was all in Blaine's head. On both accounts.

"So, wait, the glee club here is kind of cool?" Blaine asks, still not believing it.

"The Warblers are like...rockstars," Kurt comments, and Blaine cocks an eyebrow at him, still refusing to believe that a high school glee club could actually be liked by its non-members. But Kurt has this giddy smile on his face, and he's looking up at him with such...well, glee, and Blaine believes it for a second.

"Come on, I'll show you a shortcut." Kurt says, grabbing onto Blaine's hand and swinging it back and forth once. His grip is secure, as if he doesn't want to let go.

Oh.

Okay.

Well, Blaine was right about his skin being soft.

Kurt drags Blaine down the rest of the stairs and into an empty hallway. They run the entire length of it holding hands. Blaine looks around at all the murals on the wall, but 99.9% of his attention is focused on the fact that he's holding hands with Kurt. He feels like this should be a scene in a movie. Running through an empty hallway. With pretty, slow music in the background. Oh, and in slow motion. Yeah, that would be awesome. Kurt's hand is really really amazingly soft and his grip is tight like he actually wants to hold hands with Blaine, and Blaine doesn't even care that is arm is being pulled over the front of his body and it feels kind of awkward, this is one of the best moments of his life. He's pretty sure of that. And then he feels the light touch of Kurt running his thumb softly over Blaine's fingers. And he nearly trips over the tiled floor.

Kurt leads Blaine into a crowded room, full of boys in matching navy blazers or red sweatervests, moving furniture and talking. They all seem excited about something. Oh, Blaine thinks, this must be where they're going to hold that impromptu performance Kurt was talking about. But they shouldn't be this excited. It's a glee club. No one gets excited over a glee club...right?

"Ooh, I stick out like a sore thumb," Blaine comments, his thoughts not on the glee club for a moment and on the fact that his black jacket does not match these blazers and sweatervests and his attempt at blending in and spying has ultimately failed.

"Then next time, don't forget your jacket, new kid," Kurt says, almost sneers, and reaches out to fix Blaine's collar, which was tucked under the strap of his messenger bag. Blaine has two thoughts at that moment. The first one is that maybe this whole blending in and spying thing is actually working. The second and more prominent one is oh my god, Kurt touched me again. His mouth falls open and he looks down in embarrassment. But he looks back up and meets Kurt's eyes again, damn, they are really blue, and Kurt nudges Blaine's shoulder.

"You'll fit right in," Kurt says with what appears to be a wink.

Tease.

Then Blaine's mind fall into the gutter at what Kurt said.

Fucking tease.

There's a group of blazer-clad boys huddled together in the back of the room, and they suddenly break out in a soft harmony. Kurt puts his bag down on a nearby table and starts walking towards them. "Now if you'll excuse me," he tells Blaine. It suddenly clicks in Blaine's head that this is his opportunity to spy for New Directions, he has to focus. But then Kurt starts singing. And all thoughts of Blaine's mission disappear into thin air.

Kurt has the voice of an angel, to put it simply. They're doing Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream", and Blaine can feel his brain turning to mush with every note, every word Kurt sings, every breath he takes. Kurt's singing about Valentines and going all the way and love and being together forever, and Blaine just kind of stares in awe. Kurt makes a heart with his hands, and he's looking right at Blaine and it's so magical and wonderful, but Blaine's brain isn't functioning properly right now, so he just kind of stands there. The group starts swaying to the beat, and they break into the chorus. Damn, they're good. The harmonies are wonderful, and they're all very attractive (Kurt being the most attractive, of course), and they're going to be very stiff competition at Sectionals. But Blaine isn't thinking about any of that right now. All he's thinking about is how this boy has the most beautiful voice he has ever heard and he keeps throwing Blaine looks like this song is for him and something in Blaine's stomach turns upside down when Kurt starts singing about going all the way again and wow, people are actually enjoying this and now Kurt's singing about touching him in his skin-tight jeans and Blaine turns his head away and blushes a little but Kurt's looking right at Blaine and this is all too good to be true. Blaine probably looks like an idiot with this stupid, sloppy grin on his face, but he doesn't care. He's living in the moment, and this moment is wonderful.

They break into the chorus again, and Blaine is blushing profoundly, the smile he has threatening to break his face in half. Kurt sings about running away and not looking back, and he's staring right into Blaine's eyes and Blaine feels like he's going to pass out. His heart is thumping to the beat of the song and he's sure his legs are going to give out at any moment. The song is almost over, and they sing about skin-tight jeans one last time, and they finish with the most amazing harmony Blaine has ever heard in his life. Kurt's singing about skin-tight jeans, and his gaze is locked on Blaine's. His eyes are bright and intense and Blaine feels lightheaded and turned on and in love all at the same time.

Then the song ends. And the magic is broken.

Everyone, including Blaine, breaks into thunderous applause, and the Warblers high five each other. Kurt throws another intense look in Blaine's direction, and Blaine is only thinking two things.

Damn, these guys are good.

and

Please let me touch you in those skin-tight jeans you keep talking about.

The Warblers catch Blaine for spying on them. But they're nice about it. They forgive him. They invite him to stay at Dalton for a little while longer and talk. Get to know each other. Make friends. Blaine is apprehensive for some strange reason. He looks around at Kurt and the other two Warblers. He locks eyes with Kurt. Kurt just looks at him with this soft yet intense gaze and, after a few moments, smiles. Blaine accepts the offer.

They instruct Blaine to wait in a large room full of murals and empty tables while they get drinks. He sits at one of the tables and taps his fingers awkwardly, waiting for them to come back. After what seems like an unbearingly long time, Kurt and the other two Warblers enter the room with four cups of coffee. They're talking to each other when they walk in and sit down, and it just makes Blaine feel ten times more awkward. Then Kurt looks over at Blaine for a second and motions to the Warblers something like "Hey, there's someone sitting over there. Maybe we should include him in our conversation." The conversation between the two Warblers die out, and they smile at Blaine. Kurt's smile seems to be the brightest. He breaks eye contact with Blaine for a moment when he slides the fourth coffee cup over to Blaine. Blaine takes the coffee and mutters his thanks.

Kurt does the formal introductions between Blaine and the other two Warblers. The Asian one is named Wes. The African-American one is named David. Blaine offers them a smile. They just kind of look at him. Blaine's smile fades and he looks down, but not before stealing a quick glance at Kurt again. At least he's smiling.

"It's very civilized of you to invite me for coffee before you beat me up for spying," Blaine comments, looking back up at the boys.

"We are not going to beat you up," Wes clarifies.

"You were such a terrible spy, we thought it was sort of...endearing," David comments, and Blaine feels an embarrassing blush creep onto his cheeks.

"Which made me think that spying on us wasn't really the reason you came," Kurt says, smiling almost mischievously.

Blaine pauses for a second. No, that's not true. He came here to spy on the Warblers...mostly. That was the main reason he was here. But what was the harm in scoping out an all boys school for possible future boyfriends? None. No harm at all. Excuse him for being lonely and wanting of love.

He laughs once humorlessly after this realization. Kurt's figured him out. Dammit. He hasn't known him for more than 10 minutes and he's already mastered the art of reading Blaine Anderson. ...Well, it's not really an art to master, but you get the idea.

"Can I ask you guys a question?" Blaine asks softly, scared. The Warblers lean the tiniest bit closer, all gazing earnestly at Blaine. He takes that as a "yes, you can ask us a question."

"A-Are you guys all gay?" Blaine finally asks, slowly, with caution. His voice breaks a little. This was a mistake. Of course they weren't gay. None of them were. He got his hopes up for nothing.

In response, all three Warblers laugh wholeheartedly. Yep, this was a mistake. None of them were gay. He got his hopes up for nothing.

"Uh, uh, no," Kurt replies, calming down from the laughing fit. "I mean, I am, but these two have girlfriends."

...Okay. Maybe not. Maybe it wasn't for nothing. Kurt is gay. Kurt, the really really pretty boy who grabbed Blaine's hand after knowing him for 30 seconds and basically serenaded him with a song about skin-tight jeans, is gay. Blaine still feels the tiniest bit awkward for asking, so he sips his coffee to hide it. Inside, his heart is racing and his brain is melting. He and Kurt might have a chance.

"This is not a gay school," David explains. "We just have a zero tolerance harassment policy."

"Everybody gets treated the same," Wes continues "no matter what they are. It's pretty simple."

Blaine is surprised by this. A zero tolerance harassment policy. That means no bullying. None at all. No shoving into lockers, no threats, no nothing. This kind of place only existed in Blaine's wildest dreams. But it's real. And he's here. Blaine's mouth fell open and he froze, not believing it.

Kurt cocked his head as he studied the boy. Blaine seemed nice. And now that he looked at him some more, he was actually really cute. Of course, Kurt thought that when Blaine first stopped him on the stairs 20 minutes ago. And he'd gotten a little carried away and gave him flirtatious looks during his performance of "Teenage Dream". But there was no harm in shameless flirting...right? Blaine was attractive. And very nice. Kurt wanted something with Blaine. Whether it be one of those awkward friendship where you say you want to make plans over the summer, a close friendship where you see each other everyday and never get sick of it, or even something more than that. He wanted to get to know Blaine better. Somehow.

Blaine takes a shaky breath, and he looks like he's about to start crying. Kurt wonders if this information about the zero tolerance policy had some sort of effect on him. Could he have been bullied at his school, too? Could he have been like Kurt?

"Would you guys excuse us?" Kurt asks with caution. If what he thinks about Blaine is true, they're going to need to be alone. After a pause, the two Warblers stand up. "Take it easy, Blaine," Wes says, and they leave.

As they're going, all the memories of Karofsky and Azimo and everyone else who's somehow hurt Blaine flood back into his mind. He wants to scream and he wants to cry, but most of all he wants to get out of that damn school. He wants to come here, to Dalton Academy, and be safe with their zero tolerance policy. He wants to be safe.

He holds back his tears and subconsciously tightens his grip on his coffee cup, letting out a shaky breath.

"I take it you're having trouble at school," Kurt says after a few long, quiet moments.

"I'm the only person out of the closet at my school," Blaine confesses, looking right into Kurt's eyes. He feels the tears coming, and he doesn't bother trying to stop them. "And I...I tried to stay strong about it, but...there's this Neanderthal who's made it his mission to make my life a living hell...And nobody seems to notice." He lets out a strangled sob, and Kurt suddenly has the urge to wrap Blaine in his arms and stroke his hair and tell him everything's going to be okay. But he doesn't. He's known him for half an hour at most. That would be kind of creepy. So he stays in his seat. And gives his own confession.

"I know how you feel...I got taunted at my old school and it really-" he stops, his own memories of bullies and taunts coming back to him. He growls low to himself, then pushes the memories away. "pissed me off...I even complained about it to the faculty, and they were sympathetic and all, but you could just tell that...nobody really cared. It was like 'Hey, if you're gay, your life's just gonna be miserable...Sorry. Nothing we can do about it...So I left. I came here." Kurt looks around, motioning to the room. Dalton, he must mean. He left his school to come to Dalton. "Simple as that."

Blaine is looking at the floor, at his feet, anywhere but Kurt. Kurt had been harassed and taunted and bullied, just like him. They were so alike, it was almost too good to be true. Blaine felt absolutely terrible that Kurt had to go through all that, but that didn't stop him from being attracted to Kurt.

"So you have two options," Kurt continues, and Blaine looks up. Kurt's going to help him? Someone he's known for less than an hour is going to give him advice? "I mean, I'd love to tell you to just come enroll here, but tuition at Dalton's sort of steep, and I know that's not an option for everybody. Or you can refuse to be the victim."

That caught Blaine's attention. Refuse? How do you refuse snarky comments and shoves into lockers?

"Prejudice is just ignorance, Blaine," Kurt goes on. He's leaning closer, eyes locked on Blaine's. Blaine doesn't even try to look away. "And you have a chance right now to teach 'em."

"How?" Blaine asks, after a pause. His voice is soft, trying, what the fuck is this guy talking about? How on Earth would someone like Dave Karofsky listen to someone like Blaine Anderson? But then Kurt goes on.

"Confront 'em," he says, adjusting his position in the chair and leaning closer to Blaine. "Call 'em out." There's a pause, and Blaine waits with alert ears and dry eyes (miraculously). Kurt takes a soft breath and gently rests his hand on top of Blaine's. It's gentle, comforting, probably not the slightest bit romantic in Kurt's eyes, but Blaine is surprised by this action. His heart starts thumping, but no, this is just a gesture of comfort. Nothing romantic. He looks down at their connected hands, still surprised. And Kurt continues.

"I ran...Blaine. I didn't stand up. I let bullies chase me away, and it is something that I really, really regret."

Blaine thinks for a few moments. Mostly he's thinking about how Kurt's hand is still on top of his and it's really warm and nice and yes, comforting, even if it's not romantic. But he also thinks about what Kurt said. Standing up. Confronting Karofsky. Not being the victim. Not letting Karofsky chase him away, put him down. Yeah...that sounded like a pretty good idea.

The girls are first to perform their mashup. They do Start Me Up and Livin' On A Prayer and they're all wearing leather and boy, are they good. Blaine and the other boys all have chairs set up in the front of the room and are watching the performance with great enthusiasm and enjoyment. Blaine is enjoying watching his best friend Mercedes, along with the other girls, rock out in tight leather pants. ...Oh, no, he didn't enjoy it in that way...it was just really fun to watch. Mercedes was doing her solo and Blaine was smiling and clapping along when all of a sudden, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Without thinking about possibly being rude to the performers he pulls it out. One new text message, it reads. Curious, he opened it.

Courage - Kurt

And just like that, everything else seemed to blur and fade away. The crowd around him disappeared, the lights in front of him merged together in unidentifiable shapes and colors, and the noise from the music and cheers combined to pure jumbles of sound. A smile slowly creeps onto his face, and his body goes numb. The phone threatens to slip through his fingers and drop to the floor, but he holds onto it. This one text message, this one word, is his life support. He clings onto it, never wanting to let go. Just like he never wants to let go of this budding friendship, or whatever he has, with Kurt. He stares at the single word and signature for the rest of the performance. No one notices. But this courage thing? It definitely sounds like a damn good idea to Blaine.

It was the next day when it happened. The middle of the day, right after lunch and before French. The day hasn't been too bad so far, and Blaine is walking down the hallway with a new found swagger and almost spring in his step when his phone vibrates. He takes it out, and the text message he receives causes him to stop in the middle of the hallway and smile stupidly at his phone.

Courage - Kurt

The second one in a 24 hour period. Most people would find this annoying or creepy. But Blaine? He finds it adorable.

Suddenly, the phone is snatched out of his hand and Blaine is slammed against the wall of lockers. When he looks up, Karofsky is walking away from him, giving him a death glare as he walks backwards. Blaine takes several deep breaths and looks around on the floor for his phone. He finds it, the text from Kurt still lighting up the screen. Suddenly, that word seeps into his veins and courses through his body. That word is speeding through him like the blood in his body. The word is thumping in his head like his heart is in his chest.

Courage.

And suddenly, he's taking off down the hall after Karofsky.

"HEY!" he yells at the top of his lungs. People stare at Blaine as he runs, but he ignores them. He follows Karofsky all the way to the locker room.

"I am talking to you!" he shouts as he bursts into the locker room to find Karofsky at his locker.

"The girls locker room's next door," Karofsky replies almost too casually.

"What is your problem?" Blaine says, coming over to Karofsky's locker and standing in front of him.

"Excuse me?" Karofsky replies. Oh, now he cares. When Blaine insults him.

"What are you so scared of?"

"Besides you sneaking in here to peek at my junk?" Karofsky said, bending down to grab his sneakers. But Blaine keeps going.

"Oh yeah, every straight guy's nightmare that all us gays are secretly out to molest and convert you. Well, guess what, ham hock? You're not my type." Kurt flashes across Blaine's mind for a moment when he says that, but for the first time since they met, he pushes the thought of Kurt away.

"That right?"

"Yeah. I don't dig on chubby boys who sweat too much and are gonna be bald by the time they're 30."

"Do not push me, Anderson." Karofsky says, coming closer to Blaine and holding a fist up in front of his face. Blaine glances at it, then back at Karofsky, the courage still coursing through him.

"You gonna hit me? Do it." At that, Karofsky slams his locker shut. "Don't push me," he says again.

"Hit me, 'cuz it's not gonna change who I am," Blaine says. And he means it. "You can't punch the gay out of me anymore than I can punch the ignoramus out of you!"

"THEN GET OUT OF MY FACE!" Karofsky shouts. But Blaine doesn't back down. Quite the opposite. Something inside Blaine snaps then, and he gets close to Karofsky. He's yelling, he's venting, releasing all the emotion he's kept inside him for months.

"You are nothing but a scared little boy who can't handle how extraordinarily ordinary you are!" Blaine shouts. And he would continue. But something in Karofsky must have snapped too. Because all of a sudden, Karofsky's lips are on Blaine's.

Karofsky's hand are grabbing Blaine's head, holding him to him. Blaine is frozen, finger in the air, pointed accusingly at Karofsky, no way in hell kissing him back. The kiss last for a mere 3 seconds, but it feels like an eternity for Blaine. Karofsky pulls away, and Blaine is still frozen, face drenched in shock and horror. Karofsky looks at him for a moment before leaning in again. But Blaine puts his hands on his chest and shoves him away hard, cowering against the locker wall. Karofsky looks at Blaine again, longer, looking like he's about to cry. He smacks the lockers hard, and is that a whine Blaine hears escape Karofsky's lips? He's not sure. But Karofsky walks out before Blaine can do anything. Blaine stands there, huddled against the lockers, hand covering his mouth long after Karofsky leaves. His first kiss. Dave Karofsky just stole Blaine's first kiss with another boy. He feels disgusting, like he's just been raped (which essentially, he has been). He feels poisoned by Karofsky's kiss. Yes, Karofsky has been very harsh to Blaine, but this? This is a whole new level of bullying. ...Bullying? Is that what that was? So many questions are running through Blaine's mind, including that one. "What the hell just happened? Why did Karofsky just kiss me? Is Karofsky gay? Is Karofsky secretly in love with me? But he hates me! ...Or at least I think he does. What is going on?" And probably the most constant and important question going through Blaine's head:

What the fuck am I supposed to do now?

The first thing Blaine does after his brain starts functioning again is call Kurt. He tells him absolutely everything about what happened with Karofsky. He doesn't cry, but his voice is shaky, and Kurt consoles him like he is crying. He tells him that he'll come to McKinley to help him out, but he has a late Warblers rehearsal, can he come tomorrow? That's fine, Blaine says, and they make conversation before they hung up. It's only then that Blaine lets out a few tears.

They agree to confront Karofsky sometime after school hours. Karofsky should be there, Blaine says, because of football practice. So the next day. at 3 pm, Blaine leans against a tree at the front of the school, waiting for Kurt. He arrives, climbs out of the car and looks around, probably searching for Blaine. He doesn't move from his spot against the tree; he just watches Kurt and notices how his eyes dart around the area, and how beautiful he looks doing it. Then Kurt's eyes lock with Blaine's, and the blue-eyed boy smiles softly at him. Blaine returns the smile. Then the reality of what their about to do sets in, and sobs suddenly build in his throat. He crosses his arms over his chest and tries to hold them in, but it's to no avail. He sniffles, and his shoulders shake, and tears flood his closed eyes. And then, suddenly, arms are around him. Blaine opens his eyes and sees that it's Kurt who's holding him. His arms are strong and firm and there, and one hand is on the back of Blaine's head, curling him into Kurt's chest, and Blaine obliges, wrapping his arms around Kurt's torso and just crying. Letting everything out in the form of hot tears that are probably staining Kurt's Dalton blazer. But Kurt doesn't seem to care. He just holds him, letting him cry, and occasionally shh-ing him, telling him that it's gonna be okay. They're going to talk to Karofsky, and Kurt will be right there, and everything will be okay.

And, surprisingly, Blaine believes him.

After Blaine is fully calmed down and dry-eyed, he enters the school with Kurt by his side, searching for Karofsky. They find him on the stairs, and Blaine points him out to Kurt. "I got your back," the Warbler says, and he makes his way towards the bully. Kurt seems confident, but Blaine remains by his side. He doesn't know it, but Kurt is kind of glad Blaine is there.

"Excuse me," Kurt says politely, and Karofsky stops.

"Hey, lady boys," Karofsky replies, glancing between the two of them. "This your boyfriend, Blaine?" I wish, Blaine thinks for a moment. But he's so fed up with Karofsky that he ignores the thought completely.

"Blaine and I would like to talk to you about something," Kurt continues.

"I gotta go to class," Karofsky replies and shoves Blaine aside so he can make his way down the stairs. Blaine groans, his anger towards Karofsky building by the seconds.

"Blaine told me what you did," Kurt says, turning around. This causes Karofsky to stop and turn back toward the boys.

"Oh yeah?" he replies. "...What's that?"

"You kissed me," Blaine says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. Because it is. Karofsky was just being an asshole.

Karofsky looks around, probably to see if someone was watching, then says "I don't know what you're talking about." But Blaine and Kurt both know that he very well does.

"It seems like you might be a little confused," Kurt says. "And that's totally normal." Karofsky rolls his eyes at Kurt and starts making his way back down the stairs. But Kurt is persistent. He and Blaine follow Karofsky as he continues. "This is a very hard thing to come to terms with, and you should just know that you're not alone."

Karofsky stops again, then turns back around and suddenly, he's grabbing Kurt by the collar of his blazer and shoving him against the wall. "Do not mess with me," he's saying. But Blaine doesn't here any of it. All he knows is that Karofsky's got Blaine against the wall and yes, Kurt's hands are up in surrender, but that doesn't mean he's not going to get hurt. And then that word courses through Blaine's veins again.

Courage.

"You have to stop this!" he hears himself saying. He shoves Karofsky off of Kurt, and it's one of the bravest things he's ever done, but it came so easily. Karofsky just stares at them. He's unreadable. And then he walks away. Neither Blaine nor Kurt try to stop him.

Blaine's grip on his messenger bag is tight, his knuckles slowly turning white. Kurt's leaning against the wall, breathless, just like the other boy. "Well, he's not coming out any time soon," Kurt says, and Blaine knows it's supposed to be funny, but he can't find it in him to laugh. He puts his bag on the floor and slumps down on one of the steps. Kurt's fixing his blazer and doesn't notice Blaine at first. But when he does, Blaine looks like he's about to break into tears again and he's hugging his knees and Kurt just wants to hold him again. But he doesn't. "What's going on?" he asks instead. Blaine doesn't respond. He runs his hands along his arm and fiddles with his sleeve and hangs his head. Kurt thinks this is probably the best opportunity to get physically closer to Blaine, console him. So he sits next to him on the step and ask why he's so upset. Blaine exhales a shaky breath before responding.

"Because, up until yesterday, I had never been kissed...or at least...when it counted."

Kurt bites his lip and nods. This was something Blaine had failed to mention over the phone. Kurt feels terrible for Blaine, he really does. But at the same time, he wants to kill Karofsky even more than he did after Blaine called. He didn't know Blaine all too well, but he wanted to. And he already knew that no one should defile Blaine like that. He doesn't deserve it. He doesn't deserve any of it. Kurt doesn't know what to do at this point. He wants to hold Blaine again and stroke his soft, curly hair and kiss all over his tear-streaked face and do all of that until he's smiling again. But he doesn't. Obviously. Kurt doesn't even stop this speeding train of inappropriate thoughts. But he pushes them away long enough to offer to buy Blaine lunch. He gives Blaine a friendly pat on the back and a shake of the shoulder and stands up. Blaine smiles the tiniest bit and stands up. He still looks broken and shaken, but he smiled. And that's good enough for Kurt.

Blaine follows Kurt down the stairs and out of the school, keeping his gaze on the back of his head. He has one thought as he follows Kurt into his car. One thought as he and Kurt drive to Breadstix and listen to the radio and converse. One thought as they share lunch and talk more and laugh and Kurt fulfills his promise and pays for it. One thought as Kurt gives Blaine a picture of him in his Dalton uniform, for guidance when he's not there, he says. One thought as Blaine goes home with the picture, more excited than ever, and grabs his magazines and scissors. One thought as Blaine frames the picture of Kurt and arranges the letters and photo in his locker the next day. One thought as Blaine opens his locker a few hours later and sees his creation: the framed photo of Kurt above a collage of the word "COURAGE".

One thought:

He doesn't know Kurt very well. But he wants to more than anything. And he knows for a fact that this is the start of a beautiful adventure.

Phew! Told you it was a lot. Hope you liked it! Thank you for the support! R&R