WORLDS APART

Just something I want to mention:

I have an autistic brother. So I like to think I know a little about autism. But I have to add that my brother is quite mild, and in this Kurt's autism is a little more severe. I've tried to keep to what I know about autism, so constructive criticism would be appreciated but flames will not be. Usually I laugh in the face in flames (because honestly, they're hilarious) but on this subject, no. Crit, yes, of course, I can always use the help. Sorry if I'm a little touchy on the subject :)

Okay, so now that's out of the way, I hope you enjoy this and please, review! I live off those things :D

Thank you to a lovely sendmeallyourangels for fixing my French! :D Thank you so much!

No One Will Ever Love You

Kurt gets beaten up at school, and all of his friends are worried about him. None are more worried than Blaine, who skips school to come and see Kurt. Some cute, fluffy French and Klaine follows :D Featuring an intervention, a flailing Kurt, overprotective friends, worried Blaine and some fluffy Klaine.

As soon as she heard the sound of the jock's shouts from down the corridor, Mercedes knew something was wrong. Again. She moved faster through the crowd of kids enjoying their free time, Tina beside her having to jog to catch up. Mercedes bit her lip as the shouts continued, getting louder the further she headed down the hallway. What were the odds that it was Kurt they were after?

Pretty damn high.

Mercedes shoved past a group of students standing around to form a semi-circle in front of the debacle in front of them. As soon as she saw the chaos that lay ahead, the girl stopped dead. Tina gasped as she skidded to a stop beside her friend.

Three football players - because really, who else would it be? - had someone on the floor, backed up against the lockers. Mercedes didn't even need to see the boy's face to know who it was. It was always Kurt. Always. But still, she could see his face, hear his choked-back sobs.

"What's you problem, retard?" one of the jocks sneered, lashing out with his foot. He caught Kurt in the chest, the boy coughing and wincing in pain.

Mercedes refused to stand by and watch as her friend was beaten to a pulp. She marched forwards, unafraid for her own safety as she grabbed the back of one of the player's jackets and pulled him back.

"What's up with you?" The one she had pulled away turned on her, glaring down. Mercedes didn't back away - it was too late for that anyway.

"Get the hell out of here Karofsky."

The jock stepped forward, fist raised threateningly. Mercedes flinched, but didn't move back. She looked him in the eye, daring him silently to hit her.

Luckily for her, a new voice interrupted - one the players would actually listen to.

"Hey, Karofsky! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The tall, somewhat gawky Finn stormed through the crowd towards the jocks. Karofsky had the decency to step back a little and at least appear afraid. But that was gone in an instant, and the boy glared at Finn menacingly.

"None of your business, Hudson."

"It is when you're bashing my bro," Finn shot back, fists curled at his sides.

He was quickly joined by a group of other football players - namely Puck, Sam and Mike. Also stepping forward was Santana, who fell in beside Mercedes without a second thought. The girl had wondered about the cheerleader before, but she'd proved herself a friend a long time ago.

"Get out of here," Puck growled, cracking his knuckles with a glare.

Karofsky and the two other players paused for a moment, shooting each other questioning glances. At last, Karofsky walked away, his friends following close behind.

"Just trying to help," he threw over his shoulder.

He knew he was going to get a reaction. As Santana, Tina and Mercedes moved quickly over to help Kurt, Finn turned to challenge the football player who'd just beaten the crap out of his stepbrother.

"And how do you suppose that?"

Karofsky stopped and turned to face Finn, "Hey, just figured the crazy could be beaten out of him."

It was brazen of Karofsky to speak at all, let alone say something like that to the kid's insanely overprotective stepbrother. He smirked as Finn took a step towards him, muttering under his breath. Puck grabbed his arm, held him back.

"Not right now. He's not worth it."

Finn was silent for a moment, before nodding and moving back.

"This isn't over Karofsky. You so much as touch him, I'll make sure you live to regret it."

But Karofsky was already gone, along with his followers.

"Is he okay?" Finn asked worriedly as Mercedes supported his stepbrother's limp body. She bit her lip in a panic.

"I don't know! He's conscious, but..."

Kurt held on to Mercedes like a lifeline thrown to a drowning man. It took all of Finn's strength to pry him off so he could pick him up and take him to the nurse. The second he was forced to let go of Mercedes, Kurt freaked out.

"No! NO!" he screamed, thrashing around.

"Kurt, calm down! It's me, Finn! Please Kurt, calm down," Finn pleaded, gesturing urgently for someone to help him. Kurt didn't seem to hear; he continued to fight Finn's grip. Puck and Sam jumped in to help, trying to hold Kurt down until he relaxed.

"Kurt, it's okay!" Mercedes called over his screaming "It's okay! Calm down!"

Mike and Santana worked on dispersing the crowd that had gathered to watch the fight - though it was more a beating than anything. An unprovoked beating. Then they turned to try and help, though there wasn't really anything they could do.

At last Kurt started to relax, though his retained his death grip on Finn's arm as a support as he slowly went limp. It was then that the boys and girls that considered themselves lucky enough to be Kurt's friends finally managed to get a good look at his injuries. Mostly he was bruised, through blood was dripping from his split lip. All in all, he'd gotten off pretty lightly, though he'd be sore and in pain tomorrow. A decent black eye was starting to form, and they were all sure there were more bruises underneath Kurt's shirt. There always were.

Finn and Mercedes shared a worried look as Kurt finally stopped fighting. This - the beatings - had been going on forever, and no one seemed to be able to do anything about it. No one seemed to care, though they couldn't say that of everyone. The glee director, Mr. Schuester, certainly cared a lot about all of his kids, but especially Kurt. And even Sue Sylvester, cheerleading coach and supreme, all-around, ultimate queen-of-the-mean, had a soft spot for Kurt. She did what she could, which meant a lot of the cheerleaders looked out for the boy, but sometimes not even her influence at the school could save him.

Ever since Kurt had started high school - hell, even when he'd started school in general - things had been bad. Finn hadn't even known Kurt then, but high school and a certain glee club had brought them together. Then a marriage between his mother and Kurt's father had brought them closer still. Now he was insanely protective of Kurt, willing to do anything to look after him.

Mercedes had been friends with Kurt for a long time; since preschool, she was pretty sure. She'd grown up around the kid, understood his differences, learnt about them, helped him. She'd protected him as best she could against all the ignorant people out there who didn't realise that just because Kurt looked the same as everyone else, didn't mean he was. Because he wasn't. For as long as Mercedes had known him, Kurt had had that little difficulty called autism. And because of that, people hated him. Bullied him. Hurt him.

He hated being touched. He could barely hold a conversation for more than five minutes (unless said conversation was in French, which for some reason Kurt was very proficient at and could speak better than most French people). He spoke bluntly, which often caused problems. He was far away and distant a lot of the time. But Mercedes had found the way for him to open up. When she'd joined glee club, she'd persuaded Kurt to come too. Maybe he could try something new? (This in itself would have been a miracle). She had never expected him to be as good as he was. Even Rachel, self-declared star, couldn't fault him. Somehow, he managed to sing when he could barely even speak.

More had joined glee, met Kurt. Some had even been cruel to him in the past. Puck and Finn were two of those guys. As time passed, and life happened, things started to settle between the three of them. And now everyone was as protective of Kurt as Mercedes was, Finn even more so. Even newbie Sam, who Kurt had now developed an attachment to, looked after him and had even gone so far as to get suspended in defending him against a group of hockey players.

Mercedes and the rest of the rag tag group they called New Directions (Rachel, Quinn, Brittany and Artie having joined them after hearing about the 'fight' from a couple of gossiping cheerleaders) followed Finn and the guys, who were trying to support Kurt and get him to the nurse without him freaking out again. The diva managed a small smile when she remembered the one person she'd forgotten in her drawn-out thoughts and memories. Blaine.

They'd met Blaine a month ago. She and Kurt were out getting coffee when someone accidentally brushed Kurt's arm. He'd gone into one of his fits and while the offender had simply looked at him in disgust and walked away, Mercedes had had to try and calm him down. The entire coffee shop looked on, until someone knelt down beside her.

"Is he okay?" the uniform-clad boy asked her quietly, hesitant.

Kurt had suddenly stopped after the stranger spoke and stared at him, eyes wide. Mercedes had simply been glad Kurt had stopped and turned to thank the boy for his help - unexpected, yet surprisingly useful help.

"Thanks for that," she said with a grateful smile, helping Kurt to his feet.

The boy stood up as well, smiling in return though his gaze was fixed on Kurt, "No problem. Glad I could help, though I'm not sure what I did."

"Neither am I," Mercedes laughed quietly.

And then Kurt had done something strange - stranger than usual. He took a tentative step forward and held out his hand. Mercedes gaped in surprise.

"Kurt," he said.

The boy looked hesitant to take his hand, having seen what had happened the last time someone unusual touched him. But then he smiled and shook Kurt's hand.

"Blaine."

And since then, well... Mercedes wasn't really sure what was going on with Blaine. He was definitely a cool guy, and was already pretty protective of Kurt. Sometimes the three of them - because Mercedes or Finn was always with Kurt - would go out for coffee, or just to hang out. Mercedes had never seen someone who made Kurt smile the way he did around Blaine. He rarely smiled at all, except to the friends he'd made in New Directions. And even then...

With a start, Mercedes realised that they were outside the nurse's office, and Finn had taken Kurt inside. The rest of the glee club were left outside to mill around and wait impatiently. The halls were empty now; apparently lunch had already ended and now there was no one to disturb the group's pacing. The diva thought back to her previous musings, and figured she should probably update Blaine. Despite being at some private prep school or something a few hours away, she knew Blaine would want to know.

She pulled out her phone and texted him a quick message.

Kurts been attacked. thought u might want 2 know

A second later - and she was sure Blaine should be in class - her phone rang, the caller ID signalling Blaine's name.

"Hey Blaine, shouldn't you be in class?" she asked when she picked up.

"I have a free period," he replied, sounding worried "What happened?"

Santana gestured for Mercedes to put him on speaker, so she quickly did so Santana could speak.

"A couple of the football players corralled him and started beating him up."

"Yeah, that damn Karofsky again," Sam added, arms folded tightly across his chest.

"Hey guys," Blaine said, realising he was on speaker. Everyone knew about and had met Blaine, and all had approved of him. Mercedes doubted Kurt would be allowed near him if anyone had objected.

"Is he okay?"

"He's getting checked out now by the nurse," Quinn answered "But he's just got a few bruises and a split lip. He should be fine."

There was a sigh on the other end of the line; one they all knew well. It was the 'God, not again, why did you have to make this so hard?' sigh they were all used to giving after something particularly bad had happened to Kurt.

"Look, I'm going to come down..."

"Dude seriously?" It's like, the middle of the day and you still have school," Puck frowned.

"Yeah, and it's a two hour drive," Artie had to add.

"One and a half." Of course, Blaine had to argue the point "And I don't care. I'll call sick and come down. Finn's going to take him home, I guess?"

"Yeah."

The group all looked up at the sound of Finn's voice. He was standing in the open doorway, leaning against it and looking exhausted.

"How is he?" everyone, including Blaine, demanded at once.

Finn held up his hands for everyone to back off and shut up. They did so, impatiently waiting for a response.

"He's fine, just bruised or whatever," Finn said, sounding distracted "I'm gonna take him home. He's still a bit out of it."

And with that he closed the door again against the barrage of question he knew the group would throw at him. Mercedes sighed - again, the infamous sigh everyone understood the meaning of.

"I'm going to go now," Blaine said "I guess I might see you guys later."

The glee club chorused a good bye to Blaine before he hung up. As Mercedes shoved the phone back into her pocket, a teacher walked around the corner and headed straight for them. If it had been anyone else, the look of anger and hard determination in the teacher's eyes would have scared the kids, but they knew to whom it was directed.

"I heard about the fight," Sue said.

The group nodded, Mike answering, "Karofsky and some of the other players."

"How's Porcelain doing?"

They all smiled at Sue's nickname for Kurt. Rarely was she ever nice at all, let alone nice enough to give someone a name that wasn't 'fatty' or 'ugly' or 'butt-chin' or to that effect (the last lovingly directed at Mr. Schue. No one was quite sure how that got started, but they all had to admit, he did have a butt-chin).

"He's okay, Finn's taking him home," Quinn replied.

At that moment, the door swung open again and Finn reappeared with Kurt. The shorter boy's arm was slung over Finn's shoulder as support and the glee club immediately moved out of the way so the pair could get out. They headed down the empty hall, Finn keeping a firm grip on the mumbling Kurt to keep him from falling. He was barely walking, almost as if he were trying to drag his step-brother down with him.

Mercedes heard the infamous sigh from the rest of the group, and resigned herself to another. It was one she knew she wouldn't be able to forget for a long time - for as long as Kurt was hurt by anyone, she'd keep giving that 'God, why don't you care' sigh.

Knocking on the door, Blaine fidgeted nervously. He didn't usually come around much, as Kurt's father was extremely wary of anyone who hung around his son. On the few times he'd visited, Burt had stared him down and honestly, Blaine was a little afraid of him.

The door opened to reveal Carole. Blaine smiled. He liked Finn's mother. She was kind and sweet, genuinely caring for Kurt. It took heart to get into a relationship with someone who had a kid like Kurt, yet still she'd gone ahead.

"Hi Mrs. Hu-"

Blaine was cut off by the woman at the door, "I know we've only met twice, but please, call me Carole."

Blaine smiled, "Carole. I heard about what happened to Kurt, and I just wanted to-"

Again he was cut off, but this time just by Carole's movements. She stepped aside, inviting him in with a smile. Blaine walked into the house, biting his lip nervously.

"Second door on the right," was all Carole said before she walked off.

Blaine quickly found the right room, knocking on the door before opening it. Both Finn and Kurt were in there, the pair sprawled on Kurt's bed. The larger of the two was on his back watching TV, whilst the other lay asleep with his head on Finn's chest. Blaine could already see the black eye and he winced inwardly.

"Hey Blaine," Finn said quietly, not wanting to move "I didn't know you were coming."

"Mercedes told me what happened."

"You didn't have to drive all the way down here."

There was an awkward pause as they both left things unsaid that they preferred not to say. Blaine stayed silent on the fact that yes, he did have to come down, because the most important person in the world to him had just been beaten up. And Finn stayed silent on the fact that he knew something was up between the two, and it was obvious to both that if Blaine tried anything, Finn (and everyone else) would kill him. Slowly. And painfully.

With that entire conversation left unsaid (because honestly, the pair thought, it didn't really need to be said at all), Blaine stepped into the room and closed the door behind him, then sitting down on the edge of Kurt's bed. Finn shifted a little, the movement waking Kurt. He shot upright, panic in his eyes and the look on Finn's face... Blaine knew that he was just sick and tired of everything, and didn't want to deal with another of Kurt's freak-outs. Before Kurt could start thrashing or screaming, Blaine quickly grabbed his hand.

"Kurt, hey, it's me."

It was enough to distract him from his impending outburst and he stared at Blaine curiously with wide eyes. Blaine smiled, not really noticing that Finn quietly slipped off the bed and left the room.

"Blaine."

Just the sound of his name in Kurt's voice was enough to make Blaine grin like an idiot. He shifted a little closer, pulling his legs up and crossing them so he could rest his arms on his knees. Kurt copied him, making Blaine laugh a little. It was the small things he loved - and when Kurt smiled in return, Blaine thought his heart might skip a beat. Maybe it did.

"I heard about what happened."

Kurt lost his smile and touched his face, fingers running over his bruised eye and split lip. He looked troubled for a moment, brow furrowed in deep thought.

"Personne n'est parfait."

Blaine resisted the urge to roll his eyes. French was one of his worst subjects at Dalton, and he just had to become friends with one of the most fluent French speakers in the world - and one who happened to use it instead of English far too often to his liking.

"What does that mean?" he asked.

Kurt smiled and handed him his iPod. It was their usual exchange - Kurt knew Blaine need to look up the words. Often they would carry out an entire conversation in one-sided French, Blaine quickly looking up words and then replying in English. It didn't help with his French grades, but Blaine had fun nonetheless.

He grinned as he took the offered iPod and went straight to a translator. After a few misspellings of the words, Blaine finally managed to get a meaning. He looked at Kurt strangely.

"Nobody's perfect?"

Kurt nodded, "Personne n'est parfait à part toi, Blaine."

It took Blaine a little longer to find that one, and when he finally did he couldn't stop the blush that spread across his face. He smiled as he looked up at Kurt again.

"Except me, huh?" he teased, making Kurt smile "I don't think I'm perfect though."

Kurt shook his head, "Tu es la personne la plus parfaite au monde, et je t'aime."

As Blaine set to work deciphering that one, Kurt moved closer to him until he was sat right next to the boy, their sides pressed together. Blaine didn't seem to mind, nor did he mind when Kurt rested his head on the Dalton boy's shoulder.

Kurt repeated his last sentence again in a soft whisper with a smile. A second later, Blaine found the meaning. He stared at it on the iPod's screen, unable to quite believe what Kurt had said. Surely he'd mistranslated it? Maybe he'd spelled one of the words wrong? But he knew he wasn't that bad at French. He'd done it all correctly.

You are the most perfect person ever, and I love you.

It was the last part that resounded in Blaine's head, over and over again.

"Kurt?"

The boy made a small sound of acknowledgement, so Blaine continued.

"Did you mean that?"

Kurt smiled and took the iPod from Blaine, typing something into the translator. Whatever it was, it was long and took Kurt a good five minutes to type out. At last he handed the iPod back to Blaine, speaking the words on the screen in French as Blaine read them aloud.

"Les gens disent que je suis fou,"

"People say I'm crazy,"

"et ils disent que je suis stupide et que personne ne m'aimera jamais,"

"and they say I'm stupid and no one will ever love me," Blaine paused for a moment after this. People said that to him? That was crueller than Blaine could even imagine. How could anyone say that to some as sweet and kind as Kurt?

"mais je sais que ce n'est pas vrai,"

Blaine continued as Kurt did, "but I know that's not true,"

"parce que je sais que tu m'aimes et je t'aime aussi."

"because I know you love me and I love you too."

The pair stared at each other, Kurt lifting his head to look at Blaine carefully. Blaine was stunned; not only was this the most Kurt had ever said to anyone (even in French), but he'd just said that he loved him. Not the 'friends' kind of love that everyone had for Kurt, and that he had assumed Kurt had for him, but love. He'd spelled it out, so that he couldn't put it down to Kurt not knowing what love really was.

Kurt loves me.

Blaine grinned, "Je t'aime."

Because he knew how to say 'I love you' in French - it was probably the only thing he knew how to say. Kurt rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"I know."

The use of English barely surprised Blaine - he was too in shock over the fact that holy crap Kurt says he loves me. He threw an arm around Kurt, the younger snuggling into his side.

It didn't matter to Blaine that Kurt had problems. Because everyone has problems. And there was the simple fact that Blaine loves Kurt and Kurt loves Blaine.

I totally didn't mean for this to go as adorably Klaine-y as it did, but it got away with me ;P I'm glad it did though

NEXT: An all out Nerf war...