Disclaimer: Glee belongs to Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, and Brad Falchuk. And quite frankly, they can keep it.

Friday: The Immediate Effect

Quinn had stopped singing along at one point. Even though she wasn't quite sure when it happened, she knew it was because of Blaine's choice to sing It's Not Right, But It's Okay. The fact that he picked a break-up song rubbed her the wrong way. It wasn't due to her own track record of cheating on her boyfriends, but Blaine's dedication to 'anyone that's ever been cheated on' was a clear attempt to shame his own boyfriend.

Fortunately for him, everyone else had decided to keep sing along and apparently gang up on Kurt.

She felt her temper begin to flare up. This had happened last year as well. Thanks to that stupid newspaper, Kurt was accused of secretly having sex with Sam when the truth of the matter was that he was just giving clothes to a friend who'd lost his home. At the time, both the published pictures and Finn and Rachel's stakeout had given them the 'evidence' they'd needed to justify their comments in their minds. It was a stark difference from Blaine's decision not to elaborate any further as the song began to play.

One particular line - You were making a fool of me, yeah! - made her drop her head into her palm in order to prevent anyone from seeing her begin to giggle. Neither Blaine nor Mr. Schue would be very happy. Kurt might appreciate it, however, especially if he took it to mean that she was on his side.

The club's scattered applause and Santana's 'snap!' as Blaine turned on his heel and stormed out of the room pulled Quinn out of her thoughts. She watched Mr. Schue get up out of his seat and walk towards the piano.

"Well, that was..." He floundered for a bit before finally saying, "interesting."

Quinn looked over at Kurt. He looked downright murderous as he raised a hand for the briefest of seconds.

"May I be excused?" he asked quietly.

Mr. Schue seemed to notice the tension in Kurt's whole body. He nodded.

"We'll see you Monday."

Kurt stiffly grabbed his bag and sharply made his way out.

"Kurt, wait!" Mercedes shouted.

"Let him go," Rachel cut in. "He and Blaine have a lot to talk about."

"What would you know about this?" Santana asked. Quinn easily saw the sneer in her mind.

Rachel huffed. "He is my best friend."

Even though Quinn elected to stay quiet, she nonetheless turned around to face Rachel. Listening to as many sides of the story would be more beneficial for her patience in the long run. While both Rachel and Blaine could be good friends at times, they were practically twins when it came to the dramatics department. Maybe whatever Rachel wanted to add would explain Blaine's rash decision.

Rachel's voice took on a smug tone when she spoke again.

"He told me about the guy, you know."

"Are you sure you should be telling us anything?" Finn asked.

Mr. Schue clapped his hands together.

"Guys. Whatever happened between Kurt and Blaine is not our business."

"Mr. Schue's right," Sam said.

However, Rachel apparently felt some need to interject.

"Kurt talking to another boy behind Blaine's back has nothing to do with Nationals."

Quinn shook her head as she heard Brittany gasp.

"You're kidding," Mercedes said.

Tina chimed in. "Why would he do that?"

Quinn couldn't take it anymore.

"You did that on purpose," she snapped.

"Yeah," Santana added. "You opened your big mouth so we'd ask questions."

Rachel opened her mouth, but Mr. Schue cut in.

"That's enough! We have to focus on Nationals right now."

Quinn sighed. She whispered a soft goodbye to Joe and pushed herself out of the room. Hopefully there was still time for her to catch up to Kurt before he left the building.

This is a mess.

Kurt still had some difficulty breathing properly as he passed the boys' bathroom. Unfortunately, Blaine was just pushing the door open. The two boys stopped walking and came face to face.

"I don't want to hear it," Blaine said quickly.

Kurt rolled his eyes. He wasn't about to apologize for completely innocent texts when Sebastian Smythe had been in the picture at one point. Blaine didn't seem to grasp that at the moment.

"You were the one who was denying it when I saw those texts with my own eyes."

Kurt sighed and decided to just walk away. He was still too angry to speak in any comprehensible manner, and hitting Blaine wasn't very good for their relationship in the long run. Besides, any student who saw him doing it could end up reporting it to Figgins.

The walk to his locker wasn't a long one, but it helped clear his mind a little, as did mentally going over all of the homework assignments he would do over the weekend.

At least, it cleared his mind until he started to think about how his friends had reacted to Blaine's stunt. Almost everybody in the club had either cheated on someone else or was the one cheated on by their significant other. Even if Blaine wasn't aware of that fact, he must have figured (correctly, Kurt mused quite bitterly) that making the accusation would garner sympathy from them. Now they would ask questions, and he'd have some trouble telling them his side of the story without hearing "But Blaine said..."

He swapped the books in his bag with the ones he needed for the weekend and closed the locker. He was fairly glad that he had a few days to come up with a good response to anything they said. Hopefully no one would actually take the time to call him up...

"Kurt!"

... Or confront him in person.

Shit.

He turned around and saw Quinn pushing herself towards him. Part of him was relieved to note that she was alone; there wouldn't be an ambush right now. Another part wanted to turn on his heel and run away from her. But he decided to hear her out.

She finally stopped in front of him. "Can we talk?"

Kurt sighed. She seemed harmless enough, but the conversation could go either way.

"Do you even want to find out what set Blaine off?" he asked abruptly.

She nodded.

"Of course I do. That's why I'm here and not listening to Rachel like everyone else."

It took all of Kurt's willpower to not hug Quinn and end up injuring her some more. However, her words quickly sunk in.

Wait...

"What's she saying?"

She sighed.

"Apparently, you told her about the guy you've been talking to behind Blaine's back. And this has been going on for a while."

Kurt's mouth fell open. Rachel was supposed to be his closest friend. Why would she suddenly push everyone else to think he was cheating on Blaine?

And if the tables had been turned, he would never have told anyone - not even Finn.

He shook his head and looked back in the direction of the choir room. It didn't look like anyone was was about to follow Quinn out, so he decided that focusing on her was a much better idea.

"It's true. Well, to an extent. We've only been texting each other for a few days."

She frowned a little.

"Look, I'll explain," Kurt said hastily. "But it's a long story. You mind if I take you to the Lima Bean?"

Quinn frowned, but she eventually nodded.

A short while later, Kurt had taken note of their orders. As he got closer to the counter, a group of Dalton boys caught his eye. While he wasn't sure how many of them were Warblers, going up to them and asking might lead to an unpleasant encounter. Avoiding them was the best option right now.

Besides, the Blaine and Chandler issue was more important than a group of Westerville kids in Lima.

When he paid and got a hold of the drinks, he turned to make his way back to Quinn. To his surprise, one of the Dalton boys was talking to her. She seemed to react pleasantly to whatever he was telling her, so Kurt wasn't in much of a rush to get back to her.

A few minutes later, the boy handed Quinn an object before he went back to his group. All of the Dalton boys walked out of the Lima Bean in a single file.

"Huh," Kurt muttered to himself.

By the time he got back to Quinn, she had already tucked the object into her bag.

"What was that all about?" he asked.

"Nothing, nothing."

Her tone was too airy, but she didn't give him a chance to say anything else.

"So... what's the story?"

There was still a part of him that hoped confiding in her wasn't a mistake. He took a deep breath and let it out before talking.

"It all started a couple of months ago. You know how excited I am about getting into NYADA."

Quinn smiled and nodded once.

"So I've been looking for the perfect song and the perfect outfit outfit to impress the school's representative."

"How did Blaine take it?" she asked.

"He was fine with it at first. But then he just... changed. He started getting moody all of a sudden. I couldn't even mention New York without him acting more distant."

"Why?"

He shrugged.

"I don't know. Anyway, one day he wasn't interested in going to Between the Sheets with me, so I went by myself. That's where I met Chandler."

"He's the guy Blaine thinks you're cheating with?" Quinn asked.

Kurt nodded and smiled slightly.

"We hit it off right away. He complimented a broach I was wearing and told me he was going to New York, too. And then..."

He had to force the pit of dread down before he could continue.

"Yes?" Quinn prompted.

"He asked for my number, and I gave it to him."

Quinn raised an eyebrow. So far she took it better than expected, but he wasn't done with his story.

"I told him about Blaine before I did it. So I got his number from his first message, and we've been texting back and forth since we went home."

"That's it? That's kind of disappointing."

"I'm sorry about that," Kurt said brightly.

She chuckled at that.

"Wait, how did Blaine find out?"

He scowled.

"We were planning to watch a marathon. He went through my phone while I was getting some snacks."

"Seriously?"

He nodded. Just then, an idea came to him.

"You know what? I'll show you some texts."

With that, he pulled out his phone. On the 'messages' screen, he noticed a few messages from some of the other members of the club. He decided to read them over later and opened up the texts from Chandler. Quinn took the phone gingerly and began to scroll through them. She frowned a little as she went. Kurt slowly grew worried.

She cleared her throat and handed the phone back with a more neutral expression.

"No wonder Blaine sang that song," she said dryly.

"He wouldn't listen to a word I said. He just accused me of cheating."

"Well, look at things from his point of view," she said with a shrug. "He talked to another boy behind your back - and gave him our setlist for Sectionals - so who's to say you didn't want some kind of revenge?"

Kurt shook his head.

"That can't be it," he said. "Blaine said it was 'family friendly' when I brought that up."

Quinn scoffed.

"I know it wasn't," he continued. "How could it be when Sebastian Smythe didn't care that I was Blaine's boyfriend? Why would anything he said be less than x-rated?"

She nodded and took a sip of her drink.

"Well, that's not making Blaine look good in my eyes. I think he doesn't want to look bad, so he's deflecting in hopes that you'll feel guilty and drop it."

She was silent after that, and Kurt chose not to respond to that. This lasted for a while. He was quite grateful for that as it let him take in the conversation. At the same time, Quinn's point of view let him think about things he'd ignored due to anger.

Did all of this remind Blaine of his interactions with Sebastian? Was revenge something that went through his mind after their argument? Even if that was the logical conclusion for Blaine to take, did it excuse It's Not Right, But It's Okay? Wasn't a break-up song a bit rash for him?

Kurt knew that Quinn was the one who brought it up in the first place. If she hadn't gone to look for him when she did, he'd still be angry with Blaine for little reason. He would also be alone since the entire club took Blaine's side in this mess.

"Kurt?"

The sound of her voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

What's she thinking?

"Yes?"

"You should just do what you think is best for you," she said.

Kurt only stared at her. What did that mean?

"If you want to take Blaine back, you have to make sure that you two will be happier after you move past this. But for now, I'd suggest ignoring his phone calls or apologies until you make a choice."

He giggled somewhat nervously. He couldn't help it; his relief was immensely overwhelming. The fact that he could finally talk to someone about Chandler without being judged or labeled a cheater was so amazing that there was no other way for him to describe it. Maybe Quinn could even help him talk to Finn, Sam, or anyone else in the club besides Blaine and Rachel.

"Thank you," he said at last.

Quinn nodded and cleared her throat.

"Well, I don't know about you, but if I don't get home soon, my mom will start to worry."

Kurt stood up and grabbed his bag.

"Yeah. I bet Carole's wondering where I am too. Let's go."

After Kurt and Quinn left the Lima Bean, someone decided to start calling him. Since he had already pulled out of the parking lot and started heading towards Quinn's house, he refused to even look at the phone and risk getting her into another car accident so soon after her last one.

Besides, if it was Blaine, Rachel, or someone who otherwise took them at their word, he was sure that it wouldn't end well.

"I can look at the caller ID and see who it is," Quinn offered.

Kurt shook his head.

"I'll check it when I get home.

Quinn stayed quiet for a while before she spoke up again.

"Are you gonna tell Chandler any of this?"

Kurt tensed up. This entire time, he had pegged Blaine's stunt and his own reaction to it as his top priority. Whatever friendship with Chandler he'd been building up to this point was as good as over in his mind, but it would be rude of him to ignore the other boy completely.

He sighed.

"I'm actually thinking of telling him I can't talk to him anymore."

"Why?"

He snorted.

"Do you think Blaine - or Rachel, for that matter - would be okay with me still having any contact with him after I've been branded a cheater?"

"Good point," Quinn said. "But why do you care about Rachel's opinion at all?"

She's my best friend.

For some reason, he couldn't actually say it out loud. It was certainly true; they had slowly developed a strong friendship after he and Mercedes grew apart. Heck, she was the only person he'd told about Chandler before it had all blown up in his face.

But she was still Rachel Berry. If supporting him didn't benefit her in any way, she would be very reluctant to do it. Besides, her inability to keep her nose out of other people's business was well-known throughout the school by now.

"I guess she'd just make thing worse," he said at last.

He could barely see Quinn smirk a bit out of the corner of his eye. At least she understood where he was coming from. She didn't say anything else, so the silence lasted for five more minutes until they got closer to her house.

Just as it came into view, he spotted Judy Fabray walking to the curb. She was dialing a number on her phone. Quinn shook her head. As Kurt slowed to a stop, he saw her pull her own phone out and wait for it to ring. Once it did, she answered it and held it up to her ear.

"Hi, mom. Yes, I know what time it is. I'm right outside with Kurt."

Kurt found a suitable spot and got out of the car while she hung up. He went to the trunk and pulled out the wheelchair while Judy ran out to meet them.

"We went to the Lima Bean," Quinn said. She unbuckled her belt and slid from the passenger seat to the chair with practiced ease.

"Thanks again, Quinn," Kurt said.

Judy began pushing Quinn into the house over her daughter's protests as he got back into the driver's seat and started pulling out.

"I'll call you when I get back!" he called out.

During the drive home, Kurt finally allowed himself to think about what had happened today. Blaine's performance seemed to finally bring up some important questions concerning their relationship. Did this mean that the two of them could no longer trust each other?

What if he met someone in New York, or Blaine met another senior sometime next year? Could their love survive the long distance, or would one of them end up straying?

By the time he got home, Kurt still wasn't any closer to finding a definite answer. That wasn't a good sign, was it?

The first thing he noticed when he entered the living room was Finn and Sam's absence. He remembered what Quinn had told him about Rachel. What if she was taking advantage of her engagement to Finn in order to convince him of Kurt's guilt? Meanwhile, Sam was likely stuck in the choir room until someone could give him a ride home. Something else that she could exploit.

He sighed and walked towards the kitchen. Carole was already cooking She turned around and smiled at him as he kissed her cheek in greeting.

"Dinner will be ready in a couple hours," she said.

Kurt nodded.

"Okay. I'll be in my room."

After the short walk upstairs, he closed his door, took off his jacket, and fished some more comfortable clothes out of his drawers. His bag hit the bed as he began to pull off the layers. Just as he began to get lost in thought once again, Teenage Dream began to play.

Blaine.

Quinn had told him that he could ignore any of Blaine's phone calls if he wanted to, but doing that right now would feel so wrong. Hesitating even a little bit was doing him no good, so he pulled his phone out of his bag and hit 'answer'.

"Hello?"

"Kurt, where have you been?" Blaine sounded mildly irritated. "I've been trying to reach you for ten minutes!"

Kurt sighed. He didn't expect too much hostility from Blaine anymore; the song seemed to be the perfect outlet for him. But Kurt had been wrong before. Was he wrong again?

"You know, when I passed you in the hallway earlier, you said you 'didn't want to hear it,'" he said.

Kurt took another deep breath.

"Don't you remember what you said?"

Blaine was silent, but Kurt knew that he hadn't hung up yet.

What's he gonna say to that?

"Kurt..." he said at last, "I know I shouldn't have said that, but I was just so mad."

The emphasis on the last two words bothered Kurt for some reason. But Blaine spoke up again before he could respond.

"I just... I love you so much. Losing you would kill me."

Kurt nodded. "I love you, too."

"Look, I know that song was a mistake. I just - I don't a lot about this Chandler guy. All I know is... you like him."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Blaine..."

"So I took my anger out on you and everyone else in Glee. But after I left the choir room, I realized that I was wrong. And you know what? I went back to talk to you. But Rachel told me you left. And you weren't at your locker or at the auditorium."

"I went to the Lima Bean, actually." Kurt said. "I needed to unwind after that."

"Oh..."

A sharp intake of breath.

"Were you with him?"

What?

"No!" Kurt exclaimed.

"Come on, Kurt. You can tell me."

Kurt didn't answer.

"I promise I won't be mad," Blaine continued.

Kurt had to take another deep breath and let it out slowly. Even though telling Blaine off was quite tempting, to say the least, it wouldn't do any him good in the long run.

"I went there with Quinn, Blaine. She didn't want to just take you at your word."

Blaine was quiet yet again. Kurt figured that he didn't anticipate that response.

He sat on his bed.

"I'm sorry, Kurt," Blaine said. "I just needed to know where you were so I could relax."

You should just do what you think is best for you.

Quinn's words suddenly bounced around in his head. Oddly enough, they gave him some strength to make a decision.

"Blaine, I..."

He could feel his heart begin to breaking already. But he needed time to himself.

"I think we should take a break from each other for a while."

"What?!"

"You heard me." Kurt's voice was stronger now. "We've spent too much time arguing or pushing each other away."

"Kurt, please -"

"At this rate, we'll end up so far apart emotionally that one of us will end up cheating for real."

Blaine huffed. "Is that a threat?"

"Of course not," he said. "I don't want to do this."

"Then don't!" Blaine came close to begging. "Take it back!"

"No, Blaine. We... We need some time apart if we want our relationship to be stronger in the long run."

"Kurt."

There was a slight hint of anger in Blaine's voice now.

"Did Quinn tell you to break up with me?"

"No, Blaine, and I'm not breaking up with you permanently. Anyway, she just lent me an ear."

"Right."

Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Fine. Don't believe me. Either way, I'll see you Monday."

With that, he hung up. The sudden surge of pain was too much; he quickly lost his appetite. He was also so exhausted that he practically threw himself backwards onto the bed. He quickly fell asleep. Dinner could wait until he was ready.