"June doesn't want you in the show. And she never did."
The silence after Blaine spoke was seconds long, but it felt much longer. Blaine had been eating himself up inside for days, freaking out that he was going to have to come clean on this with Kurt soon and then turning again and again to the hope that he'd somehow convince June to change her mind so he wouldn't have to. WHY did I have to make all this up? There was no good reason to lie. It was just sort of awkward that June had taken a shine to him, and only him, when it had been Kurt who had been so excited about performing for June Dolloway in the first place. Blaine hadn't even heard of her a month ago. Except for the West Side Story auditions in high school, Blaine hadn't ever really felt like he was in competition with Kurt, and he felt caught between enjoying the attention and feeling guilty that none of it was going to his fiancé.
As expected, Kurt was furious. He had taken an early shift at the diner with the understanding that they would start rehearsing together today. They had had multiple conversations in which Kurt had pressed for details and Blaine had been cagey, trying to imply that various decisions about song selection hadn't been made yet but many possibilities were on the table. Kurt had grown excited, that maybe June was coming around to liking him, or saw something in him after all, and that an event like this would be a tremendous networking opportunity. And of course, even if all of that hadn't been a factor, Kurt and Blaine had had many conversations about the value Kurt placed on honesty.
Blaine had been punished for being dishonest before, more than once. Even in high school Kurt had made a point that he'd rather hear disappointing news directly than find out later that Blaine had lied to him about something. There had been an argument the summer after graduation in which Kurt had felt the need to impress upon Blaine that he didn't make distinctions between "lies," "white lies," and "fibs" as it seemed he did at times. At the time Kurt thought that would be the last of that conversation but it turned out to be a recurring theme. He had only a vague recollection of the impetus of that discussion, but thought about it ruefully a few months later when he was in New York and discovered that Blaine had cheated on him. He wondered how Blaine could possibly think that was okay, as though he would just learn of it and look the other way. It had been a shock for a lot of reasons, but fundamentally he'd explained to Blaine that he didn't think he could be in a relationship with someone he didn't trust.
When they got back together many months later, Blaine asked Kurt to be strict with him about matters of integrity. He felt that having someone keep him accountable would help make sure he didn't screw up that greatly again. It was too easy to tell a white lie here and there and he was terrified that anything like that, left unaddressed, would become a habit that would threaten his relationship as well as his other goals. And so if Blaine accidentally left his theatre history homework on the 6 train or forgot to wash the breakfast dishes when it was his turn, he made a point of immediately admitting it to Kurt rather than hoping it would go unnoticed. A couple months into living together at the loft, Kurt told Blaine he thought he was being a good role model for Rachel in this area, as she was particularly inclined to lies of omission. Hearing that gave Blaine a lot of pride, as he took it as evidence that Kurt found him to be trustworthy, a badge of honor he'd worked hard to earn again. And not that they had decided only to live together on the weekends, Blaine was glad to have that reassurance that he didn't need to worry about Kurt trusting him in his new place.
Still, there were definitely times Blaine slipped up in truth telling and, as agreed, Kurt did his part to make sure that Blaine received a stern reminder of his obligations when that happened. Usually that meant a good old-fashioned spanking, sometimes with a wooden spoon, which Blaine found particularly detestable. Either way, Kurt made sure that anytime Blaine was punished for dishonesty he left him chastised and sore enough to want to avoid such having to do such penance again anytime soon.
Yet somehow here they were again. Blaine tried to explain that he'd only lied because he loved Kurt and didn't want to hurt his feelings, but Kurt wasn't hearing it. Blaine wished he could say something that would make Kurt understand and forgive him.
"I am so, so sorry," Blaine said, emotional.
Kurt shook his head. "Yeah, I bet you are," he spat, turning to walk away. "Too bad I can't believe anything else you say."
Blaine's stomach sank as he watched Kurt storm out. He'd fucked up before, but this was pretty big. He wasn't sure he'd seen Kurt that mad in a long, long time. He knew Kurt would need to calm down, and then the probably later tonight at the loft they would talk. Kurt would come around eventually, he told himself. He'd forgiven him for cheating even- they'd been through worse. But he swallowed, expecting that even if Kurt forgave him there was likely no escaping the discipline he'd say was warranted here. He grimaced, thinking of it. Normally on a weekend he looked forward to an evening with Kurt—seeing a show together, cooking together, and usually sex was on the to do list. Blaine sighed. He was pretty sure that on this particular Saturday, the main event of the evening was going to be getting the spanking of his life, and it was all his fault.