Title: For the Love of Straight Boys

Chapter 1: On a Whim

Author:CharmanderGatomon

Pairing:Hummelynn

A/N: I never intended to read, much less write this pairing, but fortunately for us, the gleek/fanfiction addict inside me decided this needed to be written when I accidentally combined my Jyder search with my Puckurt search (Monday is traditionally upload day for my fave Puckurt (though the author is slacking lately (not that I'm one to talk)), soooo...) & it said there were absolutely no Ryder/Kurt stories at all, which is, quite frankly, unacceptable, no matter how much I don't think they should be/would be good together or whatnot. So yeah, there aren't even any friendship fix, so this officially HAD to be written once I saw that (so for the good of everyone, I will bravely pioneer this new, crazy territory so others can follow... kinda excited/proud to do so) So I sat up wondering the most important question that comes to mind when writing for a pairing so ridiculous & obscure that it's not even on : what the hell do I call it? Rurt sounds creepy (*coughs*too close to rutt*coughs*), Lummel's just strange... Pretty sure Kyder is already taken^^', so I finally thought of Kuder, Kurder, & Hummelynn. (Kuder reminds me of some website or test or something we had to do for high school, but whatever floats your boat, & Kurder reminds me of something to do with milk and cream) I prefer Hummelynn, so that's what I christen this strange pairing of people I'm not even sure have met formally/had a conversation worth mentioning if they did meet (pretty sure if they had, they'd be all over fanfuction by now) Enjoy if possible:)

Challenge To My Fellow Fanfictionatics: Help me create Hummelynn. I dare you to write for them. (It's not as hard as it seems) Help me give all pairings a chance. Because they deserve it. (now I'm starting to sound like a PSA or charity's sponsor request so I'll quit.)

Disclaimer:I so obviously don't own Glee, because otherwise, Blam would be canon & Blaine wouldn't even be contemplating proposing to Kurt, & I wouldn't have been searching fanfiction & making a mistake & finding this injustice. (all pairings, no matter how odd, should be given their own story (at least once) in my opinion, & now I hate Klaine (sorry guys, but that has long since run its course) so this gives me something new to do with Kurt, and I love Kurt.)

SPOILER THROUGH 4-21 (Wonder-ful) at least

Warnings (this chapter only): Spoilers, POV-switching (helps tell the story and swap characters faster. Forgive me. Also I just can't tell stuff specifically from Ryder's standpoint), Bromance mentions (if you can't handle that, then why are you reading possible slash?), Minimal Language (only a bit worse than on-air glee), Religion, Schue's bad temper, Slight Klaine-bashing maybe (? can't remember), Homosexuality, Gender Confusion (one-sided), slight AU, (Wonder-ful, but Kurt isn't as OCD & Burt already had his appointment the day before everyone finds out Kurt's back in Lima (Well, Finn, Burt, & Carol know, but since when does Finn remember to mention things like that? & Glee doesn't talk to Burt & Carol much... And yeah, Sam would know I guess... (mental note to change ch2)) clothes aren't canon, I made it Kurt's spring break, & only major events will be really accurate from this point on out. Oh, yeah..., if my new pairing isn't enough to keep you occupied & intrigued, I'll be dealing with the Klaine proposal (as much as I hate to touch that) & there will be Blam (at least the bromance) in the next chapter. So there's something for everyone. That should be it... Possible mentions of sex; I can't remember, & it's not intense if it's there. Possible OOC on Ryder because I have trouble figuring out how to write for him and I never have written for him before in the Gleeverse (working on an AU Jyder, which is my masterpiece and on its third beta tour by my real life best friends) which is also why I'm not writing in first person.)

Story:

Of course Ryder had heard about Kurt Hummel, Blaine's infamous (or famous, depending on the context in which he was mentioned) ex-boyfriend and original "resident gay" to Puck's "resident bad-ass" at McKinley, and to earn that title, he knew the kid had to be pretty damn flaming gay, had been was pretty sure he'd even seen the kid once, but now, he wasn't so sure, because it was a completely different thing to run into the boy in the hallway.

Ryder walked right past him without a word or a thought, but then, he realised something didn't feel quite right, so as his eyes widened, he took a double-take.

Yes, he finally decided, that is actually a dude; though he wasn't so sure the word really applied here. The guy was like... super girly; not at all dude material.

But, he figured, I should at least be nice and welcome the boy back to the school. Assuming he's Hummel, of course.

"Hey," Ryder said as he reached out for Kurt's sleeve. "Kurt, right?"

Kurt turned to face him and the only thing Ryder could think was that the boy actually did look somewhat like a chick in the face. It was obvious he took care of his skin because it was even less broken out than that of the better half of most of the girls he knew. His skin was almost like the polished ivory of a piano's keys, and clear except for a few tiny freckles, which were also pale in Ryder's opinion. Though his face shape was at least slightly more masculine than every other part of his body (that was visible at the moment anyway), aside from his apparent lack of curves, which was to be expected of course. His hair wasn't really like a girl's, but it had the same careful styling.

But all of his similarities to a girl in appearance didn't even begin to compare to those in how he sounded, as Ryder soon found out.

"Yes, and you must be Danny Zuko?"

It took Ryder a minute to look past his high-pitched, feminine, almost sing-song voice to figure out what he'd asked and focus on the question at hand. Danny? Danny. Oh. Grease. Right.

"Yeah, I played Danny because Blaine just was all messed up because his boyfriend dumped- Shit." Ryder broke off as he remembered who he was talking to. This was Blaine's ex. "I'm sorry," he struggled to recover. "I really didn't mean to bring that up."

Kurt regarded the high schooler before him for a moment or two before breaking into a smile and saying, "Honey, that was a long time ago; well, not that long, but my point is that Blaine and I have moved past that."

Ryder wasn't so sure Blaine had really moved past it, but he did seem to be trying to replace Kurt with his straight best friend Sam, however much unhealthier than it already sounded that truly was, but he'd heard horror stories about trying to argue with Kurt and he didn't really want to talk about it, so he decided not to say anything and observed him instead

The boy was wearing black, skin-tight jeans that looked too small for even most of the Cheerios and a blue sweater with a soft-looking black scarf. Ryder had to admit the boy looked attractive for a guy, but he brushed off his focus on the boy's body and attire as he caught sight of the boy's precious blue-green eyes, shining brightly. He seemed happy, and Ryder decided to inquire as to why Burt Hummel's boy was here to begin with. He knew Kurt had gotten into NYADA late or something from Blaine's previously incessant whining, and knew that was in New York from everyone else's whining about Blaine's whining, so why was the boy all the way here in Ohioof all places?

"Uh, Kurt, why are you here. Like... aren't you supposed to be in New York?"

"Certainly, that's where I live while I'm attending school, but this is spring break, so I'm home to visit for the week; Besides, my dad has a doctor's appointment," Kurt's hands gesticulated heavily as he spoke, and Ryder felt slightly dizzy after trying to follow them, absently noticing Kurt's nails were shiny and even like he went out of his way to maintain them or something, which, now that Ryder thought about it, he probably did.

"That's cool," Ryder nodded, then smiled warmly at him before continuing, "So, how does it feel to be back?"

"Pretty good. It might sound a little lame," Kurt paused to giggle mid-sentence before continuing, "But I kinda missed the old place."

"I guess I can see that. I mean, you lived here long enough, right?"Ryder laughed in response.

"Yeah," Kurt grinned warmly, "Well, I must be finding Finn; Hey, you wouldn't happen to know where he is?"

Ryder looked at the ceiling as he thought on the subject before answering somewhat slowly. "He's probably in the choir room or the teacher's lounge..., or Mr. Schue's office."

"I'm sorry but i haven't been to the teacher's lounge in a while. Could you remind me where it is?" Kurt asked, somewhat embarrassed.

"Sure; I only have gym this period anyway," Ryder smirked, leading Kurt down the hallway.

Kurt opened his mouth to tell this oddly friendly boy that he could have just told him where it was or pointed him in the right direction, but then, on second thought, it wouldn't be too bad (or actually bad at all) to be escorted through the halls of his old school. Normally, he'd have been suspicious, but since he'd graduated, he figured he wasn't as big of a target as he used to be, and this guy was a member of Glee Club, so he figured he was safe, since the Glee kids seemed to be at least relatively more tolerant than an average McKinley High Student.

Also, dare he admit it, the idea of a cute, however presumably straight, guy escorting him anywhere made Kurt's heart beat faster and brought a familiar, gentle flush to his cheeks, making him all bubbly inside.

Kurt took a quick glance at the boy's clothing..., and his body; Kurt admitted to himself silently that the boy did have a nice body, and the boy dressed well, but not quite well enough to be considered overly nice. He was probably one of the more popular gleeks. He wore a blue-striped button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled neatly to his elbows and black jeans (not skinnies though) although he seemed like the type to traditionally wear preppy plaid shorts, but that could have just been his brain working overtime and making assumptions it probably had no grounds to make.

As Kurt pulled even with the boy, he realised he'd never actually gotten the teen's real name; well, obviously he had at some point. He knew it was on the program, but there was absolutely no way he was ever going to remember that without flying back to New York and digging through a box of scrapbooks at the apartment or calling Rachel or Santana and asking them to, but there was no way he could do either in the current situation. Besides, even if I could call, then Santana would start bitching and wanting to know what the hell I want the name for, and then all hell will break loose. He shook his head to clear it of his thoughts. No, it's probably best just to inquire as to the identity of his name than to deal with all of that.

"So, Danny, what exactly is your name?" Kurt finally asked.

Ryder blinked and glanced over at the other, more effiminate, boy, rather surprised at himself for forgetting to introduce himself properly, stopped in the middle of the hallway, turned to Kurt, who basked in Ryder's glow as he said, "Ryder Lynn," and extended his hand to the smaller boy.

Kurt took it after only the smallest flash of hesitation before Ryder shook his hand and released it.

Kurt and Ryder remained side by side as they resumed their walk down the rest of the hallway, to a right-angled fork, where poor Kurt actually attempted to go the wrong way, causing Ryder to reach out an arm and catch him by the sleeve of his sweater yet again.

"This way. No one goes that way since Coach Sylvester was fired and this scary ghetto bitch Coach Washington replaced her," Ryder explained, leading Kurt down the other hallway, absentmindedly leaving his fingers hooked into the sleeve of Kurt's sweater.

Kurt felt his eyes widen at the news, wondering why she'd been fired, as he asked, "You mean to tell me there's someone scarier than Sue?"

"Crazier too, believe it or not," Ryder said seriously.

Kurt noticed Ryder's hand still hadn't moved, and he didn't want to be rude or awkward, but nor did he want to frighten the boy, so he opted to lean just slightly into the touch, hoping not to alarm him. Glee clubber or not, straight boys tended to try to avoid any type of physical contact with Kurt if at all possible, but Ryder seemed completely unalarmed by it, which was almost strange.

Ryder felt himself smile absentmindedly as Kurt leaned closer to him, unsure why it made him feel warm and why he just couldn't stop grinning around the boy even when he tried. Kurt's good mood must just be contagious, he finally decided.

About that time, the late bell rang, and Ryder was leading Kurt to the back entrance of the teachers' lounge, which he halted in front of rather abruptly, saying, "There's no point in risking us, well, me anyway, getting in trouble if he's not even in there, right?" in response to Kurt's somewhat puzzled expression.

Kurt, of course, saw his point and nodded, leaning forward to examine the occupants of the room through the reinforced glass window provided. Sure enough, there he saw Finn, his monstrous step-brother, talking to some scary-looking black lady with oddly coloured hair.

Kurt started to reach for the doorknob, but Ryder lightly batted his hand away.

"And just what exactly do you think you're doing?" Kurt demanded, clinging to his victimised hand.

"You see her? That's the creepy new cheerleading bitch," Ryder nodded in the direction of the black woman.

"You mean the ghetto version of Sue Sylvester?" Kurt dryly sought confirmation.

"Basically, yes. And I'd rather try communicating with Finn through smoke signals than go in there with her," Ryder spoke honestly, looking Kurt dead in the eye.

Kurt couldn't help but giggle at his statement, regardless the knowledge that Ryder was being completely serious; the expression on his face was just too priceless. Kurt though, as a former Cheerio, was no longer even the slightest bit afraid of Sue Sylvester or her "evil ghetto twin," but decided to humour Ryder and nod, "What do you have in mind then?"

The more and more Kurt watched Ryder, the less certain he became that the boy was one hundred percent straight and the less and less Ryder thought of Hummel as a boy.

Actually, Ryder wasn't so sure Kurt wasn't some weirdo chick who dressed kinda almost like a gay dude and almost (maybe) acted like a gay dude. Ryder had to remind himself that Blaine had dated Kurt... Does Blaine know he dated a girl? Maybe Blaine's not gay after all... But then, then there's the Sam thing... Maybe Kurt turned him gay... No. That's not right either. You can't get turned gay. Maybe Blaine's bi..., but then there's Tina.

He shook his head stiffly to clear the unwanted thoughts. Maybe Kurt isn't a girl. Maybe he is. But honestly, who really cares?

Kurt just smiled and stifled a giggle, shaking his head in disbelief at the other boy's thoughtful expression. The boy was just so silly. Kurt wondered what Ryder was thinking about and decided to ask instead of repeating his previous question. It hadn't been all that important anyway.

So Kurt found himself still giggling as he asked, "What are you thinking about?"

"Uh, well," Ryder decided honesty was the best policy and answered, "Honestly, I was trying to figure out if you were a dude or not."

Ryder hoped he hadn't offended Kurt as he saw Kurt's strangely coloured eyes widen. He rather liked the boy.

Kurt honestly didn't know what to say. Normally whenever people called him a girl, they meant it rudely, so he was offended, but Ryder seemed to be honestly asking, which puzzled him, so he didn't have a clue how to begin knowing how exactly to react.

Ryder must have misread the confusion and uncertainty on his face because he quickly informed Kurt, "Not that I care either way. I mean, I like you anyway."

It was official. Kurt really liked this newbie kid. There was no question about it.

Rolling his eyes with a grin, Kurt replied, "I'm a boy, which I guess I assumed you would know since I dated Blaine, and he's gay, but no, I guess I'm not terribly upset or ruffled that you asked."

"Oh, well, that's cool. I think Finn- I mean 'Mr. Hudson' is coming," Ryder smirked, "which means I'd better hit the road before I get in trouble for skipping.

Ryder had taken a grand total of three steps when he turned to look over his shoulder, "Hey, um, it was awesome meeting you. We have got to hang before you go back to New York." Ryder didn't really know what had made him suggest it, but he certainly didn't regret it, even if it had come out as a completely unconscious, spur of the moment thing, probably sounding a bit rushed, but it was still completely on a whim.

Which was exactly what Kurt thought, examining the other boy, who was now almost nervously biting at his lip, a trait he'd so obviously picked up from Blaine.

Ryder couldn't have told you why he was so nervous even if he had wanted to, not even if he tried, because he simply just didn't even know. Although the question wasn't exactly expected by either party, as Kurt wasn't used to being invited to "hang" by straight guys he'd known for years, much less some random new kid he'd just met like twice, and Ryder didn't traditionally get along super well with the LGBT community (mainly because he didn't understand T's very well and that tended to make him look like a bigot at times), but Kurt had no way of knowing that quite yet. And contrary to common belief, Ryder wasn't homophobic. In fact, it was quite the opposite. He loved gay people, contrary to the majority of his family's religious beliefs, and he absolutely did not have a problem with gays. He'd rather obviously never had very much exposure to them other than through Blaine and a few others. Sebastian was his least favorite, but even he was actually a lot better than he'd expected at first from the stories he'd been told. One thing he didn't understand was Unique/Wade, but he'd eventually learned to respect it and keep his mouth shut about it.

But the point was that, due to his sheltered life, he hadn't had very much first-hand experience with them, but he liked Kurt, even if he didn't quite know why.

Kurt, on the other hand, could barely suppress his confused curiousity at the situation, but decided there was no logical reason to refuse, or even want to refuse, so he just smiled warmly and gushed, "Oh, why not?" before hurriedly adding, a few seconds later, for reasons he wasn't even sure, "What exactly did you have in mind?"

"Uh, well-"

"Ryder, why aren't you in class?" Mr. Schuester asked, upon seeing him standing in the hallway.

"Well, I was just talking to-"

Mr. Schue was obviously in a bad mood, "Not a very good place to flirt, right in front of the teachers' lounge. Do it on your own time. Please? Now get to class," he requested, still not really seeing Kurt, but he now turned to him, saying, "And you, Miss- Oh my god. Kurt! What are you doing here?"

Ryder's face was bloodred from embarrassment as he turned to go back down the hallway towards the gym.

"Good-bye, Ryder Lynn," Kurt called after him, grinning from ear to ear. Ryder is such a nice boy, he decided.

Mr. Will Schuester was very confused. Did Kurt think Ryder was hitting on him? And since when did Ryder Lynn, football star, get so damn friendly with Lima/McKinley's original resident..., well..., honestly, there was no other way to word it besides using the term 'flamer.' He'd just assumed from the expression on Ryder's face and his general air that he'd been chatting up some preppy Cheerio wannabe, but no, to his confusion, it was Kurt Elizabeth Hummel, and that was a huge surprise. Hell, it was even a huge, literally jaw-dropping, show-stopping, overwhelming surprise that Kurt was even in Ohio, let alone Lima, in the first place, though Schue couldn't think of anywhere else in Ohio he'd be other than Lima.

Little Kurt Hummel broke into Mr. Schue's thoughts rather quickly and abruptly, "To answer your question, it's spring break, so I came home to visit and go with my dad to his doctor's appointment, which was yesterday."

"Oh, really? How'd that go?" Schue asked.

"Really great; he's actually gone into remission, so that's a relief," Kurt answered cheerily.

"Wow. That's absolutely awesome. I'm so glad to hear it."

"Yes, it is, but unfortunately, Finn was unable to make the appointment because of testing, and Carol, understandably, didn't want him to be worried about anything but that, and you know how bad Finn is with dates other than Christmas, Halloween, the Fourth of July, and his birthday. Did you know that once he actually asked me when 9/11 happened? So I said 2001, because I thought he must have meant what year, but apparently not, because then he actually asked me what day of 2001 it happened on. But my point is that he forgot, as expected, and we simply didn't bother with reminding him, and this isn't exactly the type of news one wants to give over the phone, so I'm here to deliver it in person," Kurt announced with purpose.

Mr. Schue nodded, "I can see that," and paused for a moment before finally breaking down and asking the question that had been weighing so heavily on his mind, "So how long have you and Ryder been friends?"

"Oh, well, just since this morning, I suppose. I've seen him before, of course, but I can't remember us really talking much. He's a really cool guy though. We're going to 'hang' sometime this week before I go back to New York," Kurt announced smugly, and though it was obvious the term 'hang' was foreign to his tongue, he seemed to be just thrilled with the idea. Almost too thrilled, Schue thought to himself.

This worried him. He could still clearly remember when Kurt had been obsessively crushing on Finn, the memory of which now made even creepier than it had been originally by the fact that their parents were now married, regardless the fact that Kurt no longer liked Finn in that way. Upon acknowledging the awkward history of Kurt and straight guys, Schue decided to clear up a few things, "Kurt, you do realise that Ryder's not exactly gay?"

Kurt just blinked. He could not believe Mr. Schuester had seen the need to point that out to him. Did Schue think he was downright stupid? As if he couldn't tell Ryder was straight, and as if he couldn't befriend a boy without having not-totally-platonic feelings for him.

"I'm not stupid, Mr. Schue; yes, he's straight, but it is perfectly plausible for two guys to be friends, even if one of them is gay and the other's not."

Finn stepped out of the teachers' lounge just in time to catch this last little bit about gay and straight friends. "Are you guys talking about Blaine and Sam? Because Kurt's right, they're really cool together, and super close friends, but Mr. Schue's right too because Blaine's in love with Sam. So I guess you're both right. Oh, hey, Kurt."

"Wait, what?" Kurt blinked, ignoring the Finn's greeting. Sam was so not Blaine's type. He, Kurt, was Blaine's type, and he was nothing like Sam. In fact, he and Sam were polar opposites. "Blaine and Sam aren't in love."

"Of course not; Sam's straight," Finn assured his step-brother, patting his shoulder comfortingly.

"But Blaine couldn't- I mean, he's- well, I mean, he- he dated me and no offense to anyone involved, but Sam and I aren't very similar. Actually, if I'm being totally honest, we're nothing alike."

Finn shrugged, "I guess you have a point, but he's sure as hell in love with Sam."

Mr. Schue nodded slowly, "I'm sorry; I can't really explain it, but I certainly can't argue with Finn on this one either."

"So why were you guys talking about Blam anyway?" Finn inquired.

"Blam?" Kurt asked, clearly in need of a vocabulary lesson.

"Blaine and Sam, put them together and everything goes Blam!" Finn supplied happily. "Like in a comic book."

"Thank you , Finn," Mr. Schue nodded awkwardly before rolling his eyes and explaining, "but we weren't even talking about Blam."

"Oh, so who? Blaine and... Uh... Who else is he actually that close to?" Finn asked, as clueless as always, and it still showing as clearly on his face as always.

"Not Blaine," Shue shook his head warningly.

"Who else? There's Sebastian, but I mean, why would you be talking about-"

"Not Blaine, Not Sebastian. Me," Kurt sighed, dramatically annoyed, rolling his eyes.

Finn blinked and furrowed his brow. Kurt was much different from Blaine. He was even way different from Sebastian. Most guys considered it social suicide to be caught dead near Kurt, while only some found it more than mildly embarrassing to be caught talking to Blaine, so the idea of a totally straight dude and Kurt being close friends was almost laughable. It was also borderline impossible.

He decided that, like a good big brother should, he needed to let Kurt down easy, "Kurt, don't feel bad, but sometimes it's hard for dudes to be friends with you because... Well, because... you're... different. I mean, it's not bad, but you... make people... uncomfortable... Sometimes. Because you're so... well, ... you, I guess. And that's why dudes don't see you as a bro most of the time."

Kurt let out a furious huff. "For your information, straight guys do see me as a friend, and some of them even go out of their way to make me feel welcome and invite me, yes, me to 'hang out,' and don't care that I'm not straight and that I don't watch football every week and that I'm not into foosball and beer pong and just beer in general. They can look past that and my adoration for musicals and Mark Jacobs' shoulder-bags and the fact that I'm still in love with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Cruise after almost 20 years. Because I'm more than just that. I'm more than my sexuality and my voice and Glee Club and the bullying and Dalton and the NYADA rejection and the reaudition and my clothes. It's not my fault you both can't seem to see that. See you at Glee Club," Kurt finished with his nose in the air and turned on tail to stalk off.

Finn and Mr. Schue stood, open-mouthed for a few seconds before Finn finally spoke, asking Mr. Schue what was really on his mind, "What straight dude is Kurt trying to be friends with?" with his usual blank and clueless demeanour.

"Ryder," Schue facepalmed.

"Whoa...," was all Finn had to say. He definitely hadn't seen that one coming.

To Be Continued...

Note: this was raw because my beta was MIA so forgive my mistakes, please. Speaking of which, I'm now in the market for a new betaReader. Since I don't see my rl one every day anymore.

a/n: I originally had the intentions to make this a romantic fic, but I'm also slightly in love with the idea of a friendship fic now because of the bits with Schue and Finn, but I had so much more planned with the romantic one that I might go with that and post some kind of really long alternate ending or something. But I wanna know what you want so why don't you pm me or write me a little review and let me know. -the siege

Read and Review: It's Just Like Rinse and Repeat.

Next Chapter: Kurt's pissed off and determined. oh! and we follow Ryder into the gym, so warning, there will be BLAM! Also, see how blaine reacts to news of his ex being back in town and more. :)