Kurt couldn't get out of McKinley's parking lot fast enough. No one in Glee even tried to stop him from leaving shortly after Blaine stormed out. Without even checking to see if Blaine's car was still in the lot, he started the ignition and managed to get home – though if you asked him, he wouldn't be able to recall a second of the drive. He breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed no other cars in the driveway; he was safe from any interrogation for now at least.

He stormed through the house and promptly shut and locked his door. There sheer amount of different feelings running through him right then was practically paralyzing. He had NO idea what to do: should he play some loud, angry Adele and belt along to see if that might help, or was the risk of sitting around listening to gSomeone Like Youh for hours and sobbing on the corner of his bed too great?

Deciding Adele was a probably a terrible idea, Kurt threw on his Wicked Soundtrack and dove into the only other thing besides performing and Blaine's presence that can calm and center him: clothes. He rummaged through his wardrobe, scrutinizing old shirts and judging whether or not the pairs of pants in back even fit anymore. It was when the thought of taking the too-short slacks to Blaine to see if they fit him that knocked Kurt out of his fashion-induced haze. Kurt's shoulders immediately drooped and his head felt like it had suddenly gained fifteen pounds. It was so nice and safe in the dark reaches of his closet, mind to occupied on color coordination and switching out his winter wear for his spring collection...why did he have to leave that space? Why was everything suddenly going to shit? Blaine just wouldn't let this go, and he couldn't figure out WHY.

Kurt's chest tightened a bit and a very confusing urge to cry, yell and/or possibly vomit washed over him. Since the house was still empty, Kurt just threw himself onto his bed and screamed into a pillow. It was a scream of frustration and embarrassment – Blaine actually sang in front of the entire Glee club, basically airing out their dirty laundry (did they even really have any? Apparently so, if the looks Blaine was throwing at him during the song was any indication). Was this how Finn, Rachel and Quinn felt afterward so many times? As much as he loved his friends, he did NOT want to be like Finn and Rachel, much less Finn and Quinn. For so long he had prided himself and Blaine for not using Glee as their own platform to work out their conflicts or parade their love around. And now that was over. Too?

The next scream that followed a deep gasp for air was more of a wail of confusion with a pang of guilt, but Kurt tried to stuff that down as quickly as he could. There were many reasons Blaine knew nothing about Chandler...first of all, they never spoke again for the rest of that day – Blaine never answered Kurt's nightly call so they could chat about their days and discuss their outfits the next day. Then, Kurt would once again try to coax Blaine into trying the new pore minimizer he'd bought the two of them (Blaine, if we're going to be world-famous, we need to have perfect skin! Do you even know what stage lights and camera flashes can do to one's complexion?). And as always, Blaine would humor him after insisting Kurt would never need to worry about looking less than amazing on a red carpet. Kurt knew Blaine was just humoring him with the moisturizer because not only had the pores near the top of Blaine's cheek NOT shrunken at all, his lightly tanned face never got any darker from the dollop of bronzer he added to the formula in hopes that he could have Blaine glow like he had all summer throughout the cold months as well. He did notice the skin around Blaine's knuckles and palm darken a little, and laughed at himself while thinking well at least he's using the lotion for something at all.

The next day, though Chandler's texts continued and were all sweet and ego-boosting, Kurt didn't even consider purposely just not mentioning his new...friendship?...with Chandler (it's not lying if it never comes up, right?) until the pickup lines started. They were cheesy and hilarious, and though he was almost certain Chandler was just being funny, it felt nice to have someone compliment his looks again – even if it was among the likes of gAre you from Tennessee? Because you're the only ten I see!h

"Excuse me, I think you have something in your eye. Oh wait, it's just a sparkle.h was one of his favorites that he got a few says later, because it reminded him of the sweet things Blaine would say when they were alone. Speaking of Blaine, they had spent a total of an hour outside of school together that week, and while Kurt never considered himself a fan of public affection, he found himself wishing for Blaine to just grab his hand in the hall, or kiss his cheek before going into his classroom. Blaine backing out of dates (he had never backed out their dates until recently – not even a severe bout of the flu could stop Blaine Anderson Circa December 2011 from showing up at Kurt's front door with poinsettias, a stack of movies, and a face mask so he wouldn't spread his germs to Kurt (Kurt had ended up missing that next week of school, but it had been so, so worth it.

Suddenly their love-life had been reduced to having only a spare few scheduled make-out sessions - they had a hidden chart in Blaine's desk that contained their respective family members' schedules so they could work out when and where they would most likely be alone for the longest amount of time. While Kurt definitely missed that aspect of their relationship, he would honestly be happy with sitting next to Blaine on the family couch watching football. Yes, this was really eating at him.

All Kurt knew was that Chandler's texts made him smile, and he wasn't ready to give that up – even when he'd opened his phone just before 3rd period to gDid you clean your pants with Windex? I can practically see myself in them.h Kurt immediately blushed and suppressed a short laugh. Their sharing of bad pickup lines had gotten to an almost competition level, but this one gave him slight niggling at the bottom of his stomach that he couldn't place. They traded one-liner jokes, but they had never verged on sexual innuendo before. Kurt flushed a little more; it was a strange feeling to think that someone other than Blaine might view him in that way - and make it known! Kurt was almost starting to worry that Blaine was no longer attracted to him, or at least as much as he used to because the intimacy was severely lacking.

By the end of that period, Kurt managed to convince himself that it probably didn't mean that much, and it was just Chandler stepping up his game in what was fast becoming a consuming competition of internet searches for new lines, bursts of laughter, and nightly in box erasures – just in case. Oh, it wasn't that Kurt felt guilty or wanted to hide the evidence, it was just that the others might not never looked through his phone, but he was always surrounded by Rachel, Finn and the other Glee Gossips and he just didn't want to start any unnecessary drama.

Kurt snorted into his pillow at the thought of once worrying about a little drama. It had taken him an hour before he sent back,gI don't have a library card, but do you mind if I check you out?h A whole new wave of one-liners started, this time there seemed to be no holding back.

While most were still just silly or flattering, more risque texts started arriving intermittently from Chandler and each time his face grew a little warm. Kurt still wasn't used to the idea that someone might want to pursue or woo him. No one had every done that, and Blaine never had to. While he knew he would never allow Chandler to actually catch him, it was almost enough of the good feelings he needed to fill the Blaine-sized hole that seemed to exist. The game started to take up even more of his time, sending him into quiet giggling fits in class.

Sam seemed to enjoy reading some of Chandler's funnier lines that he got while in Glee Rehearsal (he had accidentally read over his shoulder one day and from then on he was like a silent witness to what Kurt still felt was innocent, teenage fun with someone he had a lot in common with. Rachel, however, had been less than pleased when she realized Kurt was regularly texting another boy without Blaine's knowledge. But who was Rachel to dole out moral advice anyway? She made out with her boyfriend's best friend who had also impregnated his last girlfriend just to make him jealous. What Kurt was doing was nothing like that! He was simply filling a void temporarily until Blaine got over whatever it was he was stressed about and they could go back to spending all their time together. Chandler was a friend who understood what Kurt was going through, and really they mostly just joked around and sent each other pictures of funny brooches and accessories...that's all.

Kurt's adamance of this point sent a jolt of anger that he hadn't been expecting. This time it wasn't about being embarrassed in front of his friends; Blaine had called him a cheater. Kurt resented the accusation so much, he couldn't think of a way to quantify it. He and Chandler hadn't even hung out outside of looking at sheet music and discussing audition pieces at Between the Sheets - much less kissed, or worse. He loved Blaine, and had no intention of replacing him.

After the whole Sebastian thing, did Blaine really have the audacity to condemn him for talking to someone who might like him? At least Chandler respected Kurt's boundaries. And while Kurt might not have ever explicitly stated that he had a boyfriend named Blaine, Chandler never pushed for more than silly texts and debates about things like using the same song for multiple auditions. Kurt knew he had struck a nerve when he told Blaine he enjoyed how Chandler made him feel, but really, maybe he needed to know why Kurt might want to maintain a flirty friendship to begin with. He'd been the one who was distant and bailing on dates...He was the one who stopped noticing Kurt's new/re-purposed accessories...HE was the one who pulled away from post-"make-out" cuddles almost as soon as they'd started because he "had to be home," when normally they would stare at each other for what felt like hours babbling about how lucky they were, and Blaine would somehow find something new about Kurt he loved.

And then Blaine was somehow surprised, hurt and upset when he sees Kurt finding some of that validation elsewhere? And innocently at that! He almost retorted that if he'd wanted to cheat he more than likely could have. He'd read the texts, even Kurt wasn't that naive anymore. Chandler definitely had a crush, but Kurt wasn't ready to let him down yet and lose what he had been missing and looking for for almost a month. Instead, he tried to calm Blaine down by explaining that it was completely platonic and nothing had ever happened. That everything was going to be OK because he was sorry for hiding it, but nothing had happened. And now that Blaine knew the source of Kurt's behavior, maybe things could improve! Instead he promptly found himself alone with a tray containing way too much food for one person, and a sour taste in the back of his mouth.

A part of him began to wish that Blaine HAD gone to the music store with him that first day. Then they would have met Chandler together. In another universe, he is sure Blaine would have liked him and insisted on becoming friends. At the very least he might understand the short-lived uncertainty Kurt had when Sebastian first appeared. Blaine's never had to be jealous of someone better-looking than him coming around to sweep Kurt off his feet and away. Kurt sees how many people check Blaine out (guys, girls, Kurt's sure even small animals are attracted to those white teeth and shining earnest eyes) – likely wondering why that skinny pale boy was following him around. Not to mention a little jealousy and possessiveness wasn't always a bad thing (Kurt learned this after one frustrating run-in with Sebastian that led to a very rough and AMAZING hour and a half at Blaine's house as soon as they got back).

All Kurt could see and feel during Blaine's performance was a fire he'd never seen before in Blaine's eyes, while the rest of the kids gaped, stared, and – did Sam really shake his head in disappointment at him? He was going to have to hide away from both him and Finn for at least a couple of days until he and Blaine could work things out (could they? At this point Kurt was so confused he had no idea where they might even stand at the moment). It's a good thing Burt was always out at dinners and meetings. Missing Friday Night Dinners was an adjustment, but it also left a fairly empty house a lot of the time, and now Kurt got to avoid Burt's all-seeing gaze.

Suddenly the track changed (he had forgotten he even had music on), and Kurt's blood stopped cold as he snapped from his thoughts. gFor Goodh was starting. While he had sung the song with Rachel in New York, it was this duet that had helped both of them realize their true dreams. Rachel's was Broadway and New York, gno matter whath. Kurt's were also those things, but biggest revelation was that Blaine was now at the top of that list. They had talked about it even then and Blaine didn't hesitate for a second when he agreed, and said he was gon boardh - they had ignored the looming fact that Blaine was a grade below, but they both seemed so sure and confident in the future that a detail like having to spend the majority of a year apart from one another seemed so trivial.

For the first time since this debacle had begun, Kurt really wanted to cry. Blaine seemed so angry and upset. Did he even want to follow Kurt anymore? Were they even gKurt-and-Blaineh at all? The nausea he felt earlier returned and Kurt just squeezed his eyes and tried to think of how he was going to bring this all up with Blaine. He hadn't even done anything really all that wrong...he just needed to calmly explain everything and surely Blaine would eventually understand. The tiniest thought of many Blaine had been just waiting for an excuse to leave entered his brain just as Kurt fell into a fitful sleep.


Thank you SO much for reading! Feel free to leave some feedback - Part 2 (the confrontation/convo with Sam) should be up tomorrow night. I REALLY wanted to finish it tonight, but I am exhausted, and this is only my 2nd fic ever, so I want to be more clear-headed as I finish up.