Was Kurt nervous? Of course he was. He was used to being harassed every day, but he still felt vaguely uneasy about exposing another person to that kind of harassment. All right, it wasn't exactly his idea… and he was privately relieved that now he had someone to help him… Puck squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"Relax."

"I'm always relaxed," he said coolly. "Remember, dignified and aloof. Don't get caught up."

"Right, right, aloof." For a moment, Puck stood up straight and tried to mimic Kurt's face, and then he collapsed in laughter when Kurt poked him in the ribs. Before Kurt could reprimand him, he grabbed the other boy's arm and planted a solid kiss on his lips. Some stupid freshman walking by accidentally bounced off a car in her astonishment.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Kurt whispered.

"I was born ready, baby."

"No, you weren't," Kurt muttered under his breath. "All right, let's go."

There was an outbreak of whispers when they stepped in the door, and only half the population seemed really surprised. Kurt was shocked that so many people had heard of this plan via Rachel's blog. The Glee kids were planted at strategic points along the main hallway--Mercedes' and Matt's lockers were there, both surrounded by Gleeks--nodding and sharing secret smiles with the couple. Kurt managed to breathe. They were a whole three-quarters of the way down the hall when the first slushie cup came into view.

He sighed, and dropped Puck's hand so he could at least save his new scarf from the downpour--but Puck had already let go, and slammed the offender against the wall.

"Listen, Simmons," he growled. "You throw that slushie, I break your face. Got it?"

"Got it," the boy, a recent addition to the JV football team, gasped.

"What flavor is it?"

"Grape."

Puck looked over his shoulder casually at Kurt, who shrugged.

"Not a fan."

"Okay. Well listen, jerkwad, my friend Rachel over there really likes grape, so you're lucky. Instead of pouring this over your own head, you're going to go give it to her with best wishes to her and both her dads. And tell the rest of our pathetic little friends that the first asshole to dump a slushie on anyone in Glee Club gets a free snow cone to ice his black eyes the next day. Am I clear?"

Simmons nodded fearfully, and Puck dropped him. He scampered away. Puck proffered an arm to Kurt, who grinned and wrapped his hands around it.

"So was that aloof enough?"

"Oh yes. You didn't get caught up at all."

"Told you I was born ready."

"You did."

As he walked down the hallway, hanging on his boyfriend's arm like he deserved it (he did), Kurt Hummel was still dignified and aloof--but there was a little smile on his face that most of the student body had never seen. He was still proud, still confident, but for the first time, he was happy in school. And Noah was there to share it with him.