Title: Thank You for Letting Me Be Myself

Author: chessqueen

Disclaimer: Glee and its characters belong to Ryan Murphy and Fox. No copyright infringement intended; this story was written just for fun.

Author's Note: I was intrigued by the idea that Blaine thought he might be bisexual instead of gay and Kurt's reaction to it so much so that I wish Ryan Murphy and Company would have explored it more. Here's my take on it.

"Say what?" Mercedes Jones exclaimed as she plopped down on her bed. Kurt Hummel paced in front of her, a distressed look on his face. He'd called her half an hour ago in a panic saying that he absolutely had to see her.

"He thinks he might be bisexual now. It seems he kissed a girl and he liked it."

"But Rachel Berry, seriously?"

"Tell me about it. First Finn and now Blaine. I am so sick of this crap."

"I admit that Rachel can be hard to take sometimes … okay, most of the time. But you can't really blame her for the Finn thing. You never had a chance in hell with him seeing as he's straight."

"I know, I know," Kurt groaned as he ran his hand through his hair, "but still. Up until two nights ago, Blaine was unequivocally gay, now he may be bisexual. He's the only other person I know besides myself who's openly gay. I know his feelings for Rachel can't be real. There must be some part of him that's trying to hold on to some shred of heterosexuality. If he walked down the street holding her hand, no one would bat an eye, but if he held my hand, all hell would break loose."

"I know sweetie but …."

"But what?" Kurt said fiercely. Certainly Mercedes could see what an abomination a Rachel and Blaine coupling would be.

"What if he really does feel something for her? Aren't you the one who always said people can't help who they fall in love with?"

"Yeah but for god's sake up until a couple of days ago HE WAS GAY."

"I know Kurt but you said that he's never been in a relationship before. He kissed Rachel and he felt something. Granted that something should have been repulsion considering it's Rachel Berry we're talking about but still."

"You're supposed to be on my side. Besides, aren't you the one who's always saying mixed black people who insist upon being called biracial are just trying to get away from being called black so that white people will be more accepting of them? Well this is the same thing. If Blaine says he's bisexual instead of gay, society will be just a tiny bit more accepting of him."

"Kurt …," Mercedes began but he cut her off.

"I'm outta here," he said grabbing his jacket and bag. "First Blaine and now you, I can't count on anyone anymore." With that, he stormed out of Mercedes' room, down the hall stairs and out the Jones' front door.

As he made his way home, Kurt couldn't stop the floodgates of anger from washing over him. There were so many emotions swirling inside of him that he thought he'd have a breakdown right in the middle of Elm Street. Blaine had let him down big time. He'd been so unabashedly and unapologetically gay, but now this! It didn't help that he was crazy, madly, stupidly in love with him. And unlike Finn, he actually thought he had a chance with Blaine considering they were both gay and all. Kurt sighed as he looked up at the darkening sky, drawing his coat closer to him as he continued down the street. Granted he hadn't been the one Blaine had sung to on Valentine's Day, but after that frizzy-haired Gap troll doll had turned him down, Kurt had thought they had a new understanding, one that could possibly lead to them getting together. And Mercedes, she was his best friend, wasn't she supposed to agree with him like 99.99% of the time? Wasn't she supposed to curse Rachel's name and commiserate with him over the injustice of it all?

At least now that Rachel and Finn had broken up, he wouldn't have to hear her name in the Hummel/Hudson home. Thank god for small favors, Kurt thought as he made his way up the front walk to the door. Thank god indeed.

He stepped inside the entryway with the intention of being quiet so that he could sneak off to his room without being seen or heard but he was so pissed that he slammed the door shut HARD.

"Kurt?" Burt Hummel called from the kitchen. A few seconds later he appeared in the hallway. "How was everything at school to…," he stopped when he saw the enraged look on Kurt's face. "What happened?'

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Kurt."

"Dad, I really don't want to talk about it."

"Do I need to go up to that school?"

"School's fine. It's Blaine," Kurt said with a sigh. He knew he could talk to his dad, and that even though his father didn't understand what it was like to be gay, he would always have his back.

"Did you two have a fight?"

"You could say that. It appears that Blaine might be in love with Rachel Berry."

"Finn's Rachel?" Burt asked confusedly as he scratched the side of his head. "But I thought Blaine was gay."

"So did I and so did he two days ago."

"I don't quite understand."

"You don't quite understand what?" Finn Hudson asked suddenly appearing in the hallway.

"Ummm," Burt Hummel began but not knowing what to say or if he should say anything, he stopped.

"It appears that Blaine is in love with Rachel," Kurt spat out.

"Rachel?" Finn said, the same confused look that had crossed Burt Hummel's face now appearing on his. "But I thought he was gay."

"Join the club," Burt replied under his breath.

"He thinks he's bisexual now because he kissed Rachel and apparently he kinda liked it. I'd rather not talk about it," Kurt said as he opened the door leading to the basement.

"You'd rather not talk about what?" Carole Hudson-Hummel asked as she walked through the front door.

"You don't want to know," Burt and Finn said in unison as Burt helped Carole out of her coat and Kurt stole down to his basement sanctuary.

Mercedes swore she could hear Barbra Streisand blasting from Rachel's house at least two blocks away. She took a deep breath then rang the doorbell. Do not strangle her; do not strangle her, Mercedes said to herself as she waited for someone to answer the door. A few minutes later Rachel appeared dressed in a yellow sweater over a white blouse, a black and red plaid skirt, white knit knee socks and brown loafers. Do not strangle her, you are much too fabulous to go to jail, Mercedes thought.

"Hello Mercedes. What an unexpected surprise," Rachel said in a cheery voice.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Mercedes asked as she pushed past Rachel into the house.

"I'm sorry, I don't follow," Rachel said feigning innocence.

"Don't play stupid with me. How could you ask Blaine out? You know how Kurt feels about him."

"Why don't we sit down and discuss this? Coffee? Herbal tea? Diet Coke?" Rachel asked as she headed toward the kitchen.

"This isn't a social call. It's taking everything in me not to beat your ass right now. How could you do this to Kurt?"

"I'm not doing anything to Kurt. I think Blaine and I could be really good together."

"Please, who do you think you're fooling? If Finn offered to take you back today, you'd drop Blaine in a second. That's not fair to him or Kurt, Kurt who is supposed to be your friend by the way. A friend doesn't date another friend's man."

"First off, Blaine is not Kurt's man and secondly, you don't know anything about this. Don't think I don't know that you and Kurt laugh at me behind my back. I'm sure friends aren't supposed to do that either. I think you should leave now," Rachel said with a bravado she didn't feel because she knew that if Mercedes really wanted to, she could "beat her ass."

"This isn't over," Mercedes said rolling her eyes and swiveling her neck. "Not by a long shot." With that Mercedes opened the door, shutting it behind her. Immediately Rachel locked it, then leaned against it.

She would not be intimidated by Mercedes or anyone else for that matter, not anymore. She had a right to go out with Blaine. She was tired of everyone trying to hold her back, trying to stop her from going after what she wanted. She was the best singer in Glee Club but she had to constantly fight to be heard. She was fashion forward but everyone made fun of how she dressed. She was smart, she was talented, and she was going to be a star just like her idol Barbra Streisand. They'd told Streisand she would never make it, not with her unconventional looks, but she'd proved her critics wrong and so will I, Rachel thought.

Still … if Finn became jealous after seeing that she'd moved on, there was nothing she could do about it. And should he beg her to come back, she would be gracious when turning him down. The important thing was that he'd finally see what a huge mistake he'd made in letting her go.

He'd tried to call Kurt but apparently Kurt wasn't talking to him. He must have told his father what was going on because Mr. Hummel had been cold towards him when he'd answered the phone. Blaine supposed that Kurt had a right to be angry? He'd been preaching gay pride and now here he was questioning his own sexuality. He liked guys he knew that but he'd felt something when he'd kissed Rachel - desire, arousal. He hadn't kissed a girl since he was five years old so for all he knew, he could be bisexual and just never had a chance to discover it until now. Rachel was attractive and they both loved singing and musicals. There was no denying that they'd clicked during their duet together at her party. But what if Kurt was right and it was just the alcohol? But didn't he have the right to explore whether it was or not? If Kurt was really his friend, wouldn't he support him on his quest to discover who he truly was?

The truth was he couldn't be Kurt's gay messiah. He was still trying to figure things out himself. Yeah he sounded so sure of himself but truthfully he wasn't. He'd never had a boyfriend before; never been in a relationship. And after that disaster with that guy from the Gap, he wasn't so sure he knew how to read people or situations anymore, if he ever did. Sometimes, he got the feeling that Kurt wanted to be more than friends but at other times he wasn't so sure. Besides, there was an innocence and a romanticism to Kurt that he didn't want to destroy. He knew he could never live up to Kurt's fantasy of the perfect boyfriend. He knew no one ever could; he also knew he didn't want to be the one to destroy that fantasy.