Media: Fic

Title: Skin Has Gotten Thicker (But It Burns the Same)

Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing.

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: If you don't know who these characters are, you're in big trouble.

Warnings: AU. Badboy!Blaine, so there's a bit of violence and swearing. There's also the situation with Karofsky, which comes with its own set of warnings.

Word Count: 1,786

Summary: Kurt Hummel is so used to dealing with his problems by himself, he's forgotten how to let someone help him. Good thing Blaine Anderson is as stubborn as he is.

Note: There is some harsher language used by Blaine in this chapter. However, I'm not going to raise the rating at this point in the story. If that bothers you in any way, I suggest you hit the back button right about now.

The encounter with Karofsky leaves him so shaken, Kurt's fingers tremble as he reaches for his phone. It takes several tries, but he finally manages to connect the call while trying not to think about how fast his heart is racing.

There's a faint click and then Blaine's voice is filling his ear. "Hey there, gorgeous," he says warmly. "Are you ditching class too? You're welcome to join me if you want."

Kurt inhales shakily to form a reply, but what comes out instead is a broken sob. Tears stream down his cheeks and -try as he might- he can't make himself stop. "Blaine. I-..."

"Kurt?" He sounds surprised and a little scared, which makes him cry harder. "What happened? Kurt!"

"Blaine."

"Where are you?" He can hear Blaine start to run through the phone. And he feels bad for making him worry. He's just so tired. No matter how strong he tries to be, it's like he's been fighting a losing battle on his own. All he wants is Blaine, who is the only person to never make him feel lonely.

Faintly, he can hear the sound of footsteps at the end of the hall. It gets louder and louder until Blaine comes sprinting around the corner toward him, looking frantic.

Kurt has never been so relieved to see him.

Sliding to his knees, Blaine envelops him in his arms as Kurt clings to him, burying his face against his neck. Their phones clatter noisily to the floor, but neither of them pay it any heed. Blaine holds him for a long time, until -finally- Kurt's sobbing quiets to soft sniffles. "You smell like cigarettes," he mutters when he finds his voice again.

"I took a smoking break," Blaine replies. He helps Kurt to his feet before shutting his locker closed and gathering their things. "Want to talk about it?"

No, Kurt thinks stubbornly. But, then again, Blaine is the one to come running when he called. If nothing else, he owes him honesty. "I need to wash up," comes out of his mouth instead.

Honesty doesn't come easy, he realizes.

But Blaine doesn't push the issue. Instead, he nods and leads him to the restroom. He leans back against the far wall as Kurt splashes cold water over his flushed face. After drying himself on a towel from his bag, he blinks up at the mirror, staring at Blaine's reflection in the glass. "Well, this is familiar," he says, smiling ruefully.

"Except you were covered head to toe in blue slushie." Kurt shoots him a glare, but Blaine pushes off the wall and slowly approaches, his eyes so dark and intense it makes his breath catch. "I'm serious, Kurt. Do you have any idea what I thought happened when you called me?"

He shies away, feeling ashamed. "I'm sorry."

Blaine stops in his tracks, stunned, before running his hand over his face with a groan. "It's not your fault. God, why do all of you think that?"

Fighting back the tears that sting his eyes, Kurt glances away from the mirror and whispers, "I want to go home."

He can feel Blaine's stare at the back of his neck, but doesn't look back at him, not even when he hears Blaine heave a frustrated sigh. "Fine," he says. The tone of his voice is clipped and angry. "I'll drive you."

Kurt stares down at his lap throughout the entire car ride. He's too mortified with himself and what happened to look up, much less say anything, so he doesn't realize where they're going until Blaine parks the car. He glances up, expecting to see the house, but his jaw drops when he discovers where they are. "What are we doing here?" he demands. He tries to snatch at the keys Blaine takes out of the ignition, but he easily ducks out of the way and climbs out of the car. Kurt follows after him, his temper rising. "How did you even find this place?"

"It wasn't too hard," Blaine replies easily. "Burt mentioned he works at an auto shop when I had dinner with your family the other night. There's only one 'Hummel Tires & Lube' in the area, so it wasn't too hard to figure out which one."

When he starts toward the entrance, Kurt grabs his arm, suddenly furious. "What the hell is your problem, coming here?" His father only needs to take one look at his bloodshot eyes and know something is wrong.

"What's my problem?" Blaine asks. His voice -which starts out falsely pleasant- suddenly becomes so loud and fierce that it terrifies him. "What the hell is your fucking problem, Kurt? You won't tell me or anyone else what's wrong, even though it's obvious that bastard is responsible. How do you think that makes me feel? Do you have any idea how sick and tired I am of seeing this happen, over and over again, without being able to do anything about it? Do you?"

Kurt cringes away. Of course he understands. He knows why Blaine is acting the way he is, after all he's been through. But that still doesn't make it hurt any less. "Blaine, you don't understand," he says quietly. "My father's sick. If he finds out-..."

"Fuck that!" Blaine shouts back. He sees the hurt on his face and instantly deflates, looking very small and very tired. He covers his face with his hand as tears well up in his eyes, but his voice is choked up. "Damn it, Kurt. Why-... Why won't you let me help you?"

His own eyes are stinging as he struggles to form some sort of reply, Kurt barely notices when Burt steps out of the shop, giving them both a very stern look. "What is going on out here?" he asks.

"Dad!" Kurt panics, rubbing at his face. But that only serves to draw his father's attention to the state of it even more and Burt's expression hardens.

"What happened?"

Nothing, Kurt opens his mouth to say. Absolutely nothing. But Blaine cuts him off before he can get any words out. "Tell him, Kurt."

Eyes wide, he stares at Blaine, who meets his gaze evenly, despite the tears threatening to fall. Burt frowns and asks, "Tell me what?"

Kurt attempts to shake his head, but Blaine is relentless. "If you don't, I swear I'll tell him myself."

"Tell me what?"

Trapped, Kurt take a shaky breath and thinks, Honesty. "There's this guy at school who harasses me," he starts, the words tasting like gravel in his mouth. "His name is Dave Karofsky."

"Harassing you how?" Burt demands. There's something about him standing there, dressed in his work clothes and covered in oil that makes him want to cry all over again.

"Just-..." He bites his lip at the way both of them are looking at him. "He shoves me and calls me names."

"There's more," his father says at once. "There's something you're not telling me."

The thought of lying, of softening the situation so Burt won't get as angry comes to mind, but Kurt is just so tired. So very tired. "He threatened to kill me."

"What?" two voices demand at once and Kurt suddenly realizes his mistake. Blaine didn't know. Oh god, he didn't hear Karofsky in the parking lot that day.

"I'm going to beat the shit out of him," Blaine growls. He moves to climb back into his car, but Kurt quickly holds on to him. He jerks away, but Kurt grabs on tighter, desperate.

"Both of you get inside now." They jump at his father's booming voice. His face is red and furious, which causes Kurt to worry about his condition. But they don't argue as they scurry into the shop and sit down at the back table. Burt storms over to the phone and punches in numbers like he's trying to break it. It startles Kurt, but he quickly yanks his hand away when Blaine reaches for it. Burt spends several long moments yelling at Principal Figgins, who quickly arranges a meeting with Karofsky and his father. As soon as he slams down the receiver, Burt takes off his hat, running his hand over the top of his head.

His father looks suddenly very old then, causing his heart to clench painfully in his chest. "I'm sorry, Dad," he says softly.

Burt turns to give him a disappointed look. It's a justified reaction, of course, but is still hurts more than he expected it would. It hurts so much. "We'll talk more about this at home."

It's a small mercy when Blaine steps in to the conversation then. Because, try as he might, Kurt can't think of a single thing to reply with. "I can take him back, sir. Kurt has had a rough day and I don't mind staying with him until you get home."

Burt looks at Blaine for a long moment before finally nodding, satisfied by whatever he sees in his eyes. Immediately feeling betrayed, Kurt resolves to never speak to either of them for the rest of his life. But Blaine's hand presses itself against the small of his back and is leading him out of the shop. Kurt waits until they both get into the car and drive away before piercing him with his most vicious glare.

Unfortunately, it's not very effective. Blaine doesn't even look in his direction until they're parked in front of his house. It's only when Kurt reaches for the door does Blaine's hand still him. "I know you're upset with me for sticking my nose in your business," he starts carefully. He pauses, as if struggling on how to continue. "And honestly, I don't blame you for it. But I want you to know that I'm only doing this because I care about you, Kurt. I don't want anything to happen to you."

Kurt is still angry at him, that's true enough. But he knows that Blaine was only trying to help. He pulls away and climbs out of the car, bending down slightly as he looks down at Blaine, who tenses up with dread. "Come on," he says impatiently. "We're going to watch 'The Sound of Music' and 'Victor Victoria' until Dad gets home. And then you're going to stay for dinner."

Blaine blinks. "...Why?"

"Because I said so. And because Julie Andrews is a goddess." He raises his brow, as if daring him to argue. But the tension in Blaine's face eases into a faint smile and he nods.

In that moment, Kurt wants nothing more than to thank Blaine and apologize to him and yell at him all at once. But all he can do is nod and smile shakily back. Because as frustrating as Blaine is sometimes, Kurt knows, without a doubt, that he loves him.

He loves him more than he's ever loved anyone.