-Alright, remember this is AU! Enjoy!-

Candles

Somebody help me. Somebody save me from this Hell. My own private hell where I am totally alone. It's dark here…so dark, and cold. No matter how much I try to cover myself, no matter how long I endure it no light or warmth ever reaches me. I stay here, cold, scared. Always so scared.

I'm scared of the monster that lurks in this bleak darkness. He comes from nowhere, frightening me every time despite the anticipation. He beats me daily, snarling in my face, gaining pleasure from my fear and my tears. He laughed at me, made me feel ugly and hated.

I am hated. I know there are others here. They watch. They leave me here, all alone while he hurts me. Some even help me. I'm tossed around like a rag doll, as if I were trash. I slam against the icy metal walls, bruised, defeated. They throw things at me. They help the monster.

The bruises and pain are deeper than they know. They don't see the horrible black bruises covering me. They don't understand. They don't even care. I can't escape my nightmare. I can't. I'm trying so hard to wake up from this. Just when I think I can see a small glimmer of hope I'm thrown to the bottom again. The floor of this prison, this icy pit that shatters my mind, my body and my heart.

I sing like a bird about to be roasted. I know the pain and anguish that is to come and still I try to sing. It makes everything alright. But every song has to end. And when it does I remember why I was so scared before.

I can't sleep unless I cry. I have to cry so hard for my eyes to finally close. Sleep allows me no peace. Sleeping is fitful, fraught with silly dreams and hopes that have long since been dashed.

My heart has been crushed like an insect in the path of something mighty, something indifferent, something angry. I've offered it to some only to receive scorn. Then I feel ugly again. The monster laughs in the shadows, watching my suffering at other's hands. He enjoys my tears, drinks them up like elixir needed to live.

I live through this horror day after day, trying to get through it. I hear a small whisper. It says one word, and one word only: Courage.

The voice is soothing, calming, a definite change from the sharp and jagged voices that usually slandered my name…if they even knew my name.

So I fight back. I'm not going to let the monster hurt me, I won't. I'm not going to lie here and cry anymore. I'll listen to the voice, the voice of an angel I can't quite see. I did what the voice said, but I was not given mercy or mitigation. Instead the monster grabbed my face in his rough, unforgiving hands and ripped the innocence from my lips with his awful mouth.

He left me huddled in the corner, sobbing and trembling. How could it take that from me? It had already stolen so much from me, what more could it want. It told me it would kill me if I spoke of the incident. So I stayed here, huddled in my freezing corner, crying, scared, trapped.

I saw a light through my closed lids. It was dim, but in this constant darkness it could have been a search light. I opened my eyes, looking toward the glow. It continued to get brighter and brighter as it came toward me. As it got closer it got warmer. Warmth…I'd almost forgotten what that was.

The light was so bright I had to close my eyes again. I was afraid of what it would do to me, if it would hurt me or not. So I waited, terrified.

A soft, gentle hand touched my cheek. "Are you alright?"

I looked up at the voice. Beautiful hazel eyes looked back at me, a small smile on his full lips. His dark hair was combed neatly around his face. His stunningly beautiful face. I looked at him, unable to breathe. I couldn't even answer him. His smile grew, gentle and soothing. "It's okay. I won't hurt you. Do you remember me?"

His voice. It was the same voice that had told me to be brave. I nodded. "I tried," I choked. "Bu-but-"

"Shh…" He was so warm. "It's alright. You don't have to stay here anymore." For the first time in what felt like years, hope sparked behind the tears in my eyes.

"I,I don't?"

He shook his head, still holding my face. "I can take you far away from here. Somewhere with light. Somewhere where no one will hurt you, and I'll make sure of that."

I blinked, tears slipping down my cheeks. "Shh, shh, don't cry. It's alright." He stroked my cheek.

"Can you really save me?" I choked. "N-no one's ever been there for me. I-I'm all alone."

He smiled softly and took me in his arms, wrapping them tightly around me. I gasped, feeling his warmth all around me, warmth I'd never felt before. "Shh…You're not alone. I've got you now, shh."

I sobbed into his chest, curling against him. He let me, pulling me into his lap, taking off his jacket and wrapping it around me. I looked up at him, just staring at him. He looked back at me, curious. Gently and slowly, he brought his lips to mine. I gasped, choking on my own breath as his soft lips worked against mine. The wounds the monster had left disappeared, melting away with this sweet angel's touch.

It growled from the shadows but could do nothing. It couldn't hurt me anymore. The people that had aided in his torments couldn't hurt me anymore. Nothing and no one could.

I'd been searching through this dark place for a long time. I could hear someone crying, I heard creatures snarling, making the cries worse, but I could never find the source. I felt as if I were fighting my way through thick velvet curtains and with each one I only uncovered another.

I'd dreamed for so long to find someone. Someone I can love and hold, someone who'll make this constant loneliness a little better. I was so tired, tired of running and searching, of thinking I've found someone only to be turned away, heart in pieces on the floor.

I didn't give up hope. You can't give up on love, you just can't. I knew that if I kept looking, that if I rounded just one more corner I would find that someone.

So when I heard the crying, when I could feel the dark presence around me I followed the sound, hoping, praying.

Time marched on without a break. I heard those cries, the fear in a petrified voice. "Courage." I said, more so thinking aloud than anything. I don't think he heard me. How could he in this suffocating blackness?

I kept searching for that voice. That tiny, quivering voice that was desperately looking for help. What I found astounded and horrified me.

There he was, huddled in a corner, naked, beaten…beautiful. I heard him sobbing and wondered who on earth would ever, ever hurt something so fragile. As I got closer I could see more of him. I saw the goosebumps on his pale and perfect skin. He was trembling, hiding from me, and the rest of the world.

I touched his cheek, marveling at how soft it was, coaxing him to look up at me. "Are you alright?" His eyes opened, revealing a brilliant blue shining with tears. I smiled at him, showing him there was nothing to be afraid of. "It's okay. I won't hurt you. Do you remember me?"

To my surprise he nodded. He did hear me.

"I tried," he squeaked. God, that voice, that sweet angelic face. How could anyone hurt something so beautiful? "B-but-"

"Shh…" I couldn't leave him in this place. I wouldn't. Not with that innocence blinking up at me. "It's alright. You don't have to stay here anymore.

"I, I don't?" He asked, hopeful. I don't think he'd had hope for quite some time. He looked so tired…

I wouldn't let anything hurt him again. As long as I was around I wouldn't let those eyes be filled with such pain. I would protect him from whatever resided here. I could feel eyes on me, staring into me. It wouldn't hurt him. Nothing would ever hurt him again. I shook my head, hiding my pain. "I can take you far away from here. Somewhere with light. Somewhere where no one will hurt you, and I'll make sure of that."

The relief that flooded his chaste features almost floored me. "Shh, shh, don't cry. It's alright." I wiped tears from his cheeks, trying to soothe him.

"Can you really save me?" I nodded. He hiccupped, the disbelief apparent in his face. "N-no one's ever been there for me. I-I'm all alone."

I couldn't take it anymore. I took him in my arms, heart wrenching when I felt how icy cold his skin was. "Shh…You're not alone. I've got you now, shh."

I held him close, letting him cry. I took off my jacket, unable to take him shaking any longer, and wrapped it around him, tight. I rocked him gently, running my fingers through his soft hair. He looked up at me with those beautiful eyes, just looking. I looked at his full lips, lips stained with blood, his neck and cheek covered in bruises. I wanted to make that pain go away. Cautiously, I brought my lips to his, hoping I wouldn't scare him.

He gasped, body going limp in my arms. He kissed me back, his lips trembling while he did. I could feel the bruises and scratches disappear while I touched him. I don't know how this happened, but it did.

There was a growl behind us that we both ignored. I squeezed him tighter, feeling his hesitant hand on my face.

"Let's get you out of here," I whispered. I wasn't about to make him stand. I lifted him into my arms, cradling him close. "Just hold onto me, okay?"

"W-wait," he stammered. "I don't ev-even know your name."

"I'm Blaine," I said softly. He sniffed, tears still leaking down his pink cheeks.

"Kurt."

An angel named Kurt.

I leaned my cheek against his, nuzzling against his skin. "Kurt…I've been looking for you forever." I felt his cheek flush against mine.

He locked his wrists around my neck, face buried in my neck. "Let's go."

I breathed in the smell of his skin, feeling completely and totally safe from anything that had hurt me previously. He walked us to a door, opening it with ease. A door I'd been trying to get through for years. A door that wouldn't open without the right key. I looked up at him, knowing that he was like a missing puzzle piece.

I'm complete.

END

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