The Glow (A Klaine AU) *in progress*

Chapter Six: Safe From Harm

The next few weeks leading up to Regionals were nothing more than a hazy blur. Spring crept into the atmosphere, but none of it did anything to calm my nerves. The Warblers were tense, their dispositions as tight as their clenched jaws. I hadn't been sleeping well, but, if all else was wrong, at least I had... him.

Him. After Sebastian's massive blow-up and attack on Kurt at the Warblers meeting, he'd been suspended from competing and also quit the Warblers indefinitely. He didn't regress from his daily assaults, though. He was starting rumors, saying that Kurt started it and that he was planning to undermine the Warblers, none of which I could even fathom. Kurt had been a fighter toward the beginning, tossing passive-aggressive words and comebacks in Sebastian's path. I couldn't be prouder of him; he was strong and wouldn't go down without a fight.

However, lately, I felt a slight change in Kurt, hardly palpable but still weighing on my mind. The assaults and bullying have gotten worse, and I'd been trying everything to curb Sebastian's sharp tongue. On top of that, his dad was still in the hospital, as he told me yesterday. I noticed that Kurt's Warblers jacket hung more loose on his frame than it did before, and when I held him in my arms, I could feel the sharpness of a hip bone jutting from his waist. It worried me, how much stress Kurt was under and what it was doing to him.

Then, one day, in the middle of a Warblers meeting, I knew what I had to do. Tomorrow we had a day off, to do whatever and go off of campus. In previous times  I went on a date with Sebastian around the town, but those days were long behind me and there was something far bigger I needed to fulfill.

I wanted to meet Kurt's friends - Rachel, Mercedes and Santana- names I'd heard in passing but never assigned them to faces. Kurt hadn't seen his friends in weeks, we were so caught up in practicing and schoolwork. It, among everything else, was taking a toll on him, and I couldn't bear to see him that way. His face had been so fixated with a furrowed brow and pursed lips that I ached to see him smile, more than anything. That expression seemed to be a distant memory.

"Kurt.... hey," I found him at the library that afternoon, gazing longingly out the window. I placed my hand on his arm, which he responded to with a quiet sigh. Our glow pulsed gently above our heads, the light reflecting in Kurt's eyes. He turned around to face me, a crestfallen look on his face. His blue eyes were dark, the shade of the ocean in a churning storm. "What's on your mind, hon? Please, tell me." Kurt bit his lip and looked away.

"Blaine..." he spoke, "I'm just stressed, that's it. My dad... competition, not wanting to let you down, and just... I haven't seen my friends in ages. I've talked to them on the phone, but it's not the same." Kurt's eyes gleamed with tears. It physically pained me to hear the hurt in his voice, and I gripped both of his hands in mine. He gazed at me, his stressed facade falling away and a tiny smile appearing on his lips.

"Hey, look at me. I love you, Kurt, and it hurts me to see you look so sad. Actually, I want to meet your friends anyway. Let's go see them; okay? Tonight. I want to get to know your world... everything about you. Okay?" Kurt nodded, his eyes brightening at the mention of friends. I lifted his chin with my hand, feeling his smooth skin beneath my fingertips and smiling. He looked up at me, smiling gratefully. The library was empty, so I pulled Kurt closer to me, feeling his lightly trembling body in my arms. He tilted his head and leaned into the kiss, and I felt him smile against my lips. His heartbeat was faint and quiet, a steady rhythm beating in tandem with mine. Suddenly, we heard footsteps approaching and shot apart.

Sebastian.

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