Title: Safe and Sound

Rating: PG-13/T

Pairings: Kurtanny friendship, Klaine and Brittana romances

Warnings: dark themes, angst, allusions to sexual abuse of minors, vague triggers (nothing graphic)

Inspiration/Prompt: This is based on two throw-away comments off of Glee ("Mr. Schue's the only teacher at this school that ever really touched me - besides Mr. Ryerson." - episode 2.7, "I lost my virginity at cheerleading camp. He just climbed into my tent. Alien invasion." - episode 3.5), as well as the fact that Kurt is my favorite character. (I don't really write Glee fics where he's not a main character.)

Author's Notes: Group therapy for sexually abused teens generally only occurs in rehabilitation centers or medical facilities where the teen is under suicide watch. (In-patient facilities.) For the purpose of this fic, I have written them as available outside of such situations.

The song used in part fifteen, as well as the inspiration for the story's title, is "Safe & Sound" by Taylor Swift ft. The Civil Wars, from the soundtrack for the 2011 film "The Hunger Games".

I never planned to post this, but it felt powerful while I was writing it. So far, I have fifteen pieces written and no idea if it will expand from there. This is one that I may or may not come back to, so watch for alerts.

…

1.

No one was sure when it had started. In fact, most people had expected it to end long before this point. Instead, the unusual friendship of Kurt Hummel and Brittany S. Pierce continued. The pair had a few interests in common, but with the difference in social standing and the way Brittany would routinely follow the lead of Quinn Fabray and Santana Lopez, their interactions should have ended as soon as high school started. When, the very first week, the other two girls had demanded Brittany stop spending time with Kurt, lest her standing in the student hierarchy decline and their with it, this had resulted in a screaming match the likes of which no one had ever seen. Mainly, because no one could remember a time when Brittany had been angry, let alone angry enough to be shrieking at the top of her lungs. In the end, Kurt had been the only one to pull her away and calm her down. It was only when she was sobbing on his shoulder, and he held her close, brushing a hand through her hair and quietly singing, that she went back to the normal, easy-going, oblivious Brittany. One of the other strange things people had noticed was the physicality of their relationship. Brittany had no trouble touching or being touched and seemed to hug everyone. Kurt, on the other hand, avoided contact like the plague. Casual brushes were routinely avoided, even from those he considered friends. But Brittany was allowed to hug him and kiss him, to sit in his lap and play with his hair, to run her hands all over a bright or shiny or exciting new outfit. She was the one exception, though. When he had first joined the glee club, Mercedes Jones and Rachel Berry had both tried to treat him the same way, and Kurt immediately retreated, before proceeding to avoid them for a full week. The girls had learned their lesson. Kurt and Brittany were special to one another. And while Kurt might be gay, and Brittany was in love with Santana, making a romantic relationship between the boy and girl impossible, they were the most important person in the other's life.