For Leslie, because she's amazing. :3
You've Got a Friend
"He told me he loved me."
Kurt Hummel glanced up from the Geometry textbook masking the Vogue he was reading intently to look at the vacant-eyed Cheerio sitting across from him, nibbling on a strand of her golden hair.
Today had been an advice-giving kind of day. Three of Kurt's friends had asked him for dating advice already, and he had sent them home with statements of knowledge he knew would help them. Hanging out with Sam after days like this were a nice investment for his time; Kurt wasn't sure how he would be able to hold up any longer, dealing with messy subjects like these. But even still, he wanted to help out his friends. And ever since Sam and him dominated McKinley as the new power couple, this had been happening a lot lately.
"Brittany..." Kurt began, considering his words carefully. He'd have to use smaller ones; ones she'd understand. "Are you and Mike in a steady relationship?"
Brittany rolled her eyes as if she was the one annoyed in this situation. "No. That's the point."
"Do you love him?"
"I don't know...can someone, like, love two people...at the same time?"
He let out a small sigh of relief. Puck had already come to him earlier with the same problem, so all he had to do was give Brittany the same advice. "Maybe you should take a break from all of this, you know? Take some time for yourself. Maybe after a while you can find just one person who has the same values as both Mike and..."
"Santana."
Kurt nearly choked on his Glaceau mineral water. "Santana. Right."
The tall blonde emerged from her seat and grabbed her My Little Pony backpack. "Thank you, Kurt," she told him, patting his head like a dog before leaving the choir room. He nodded and leaned his head back, closing his eyes.
Brittany and Santana. Who would've thought?
"Long day?" A husky voice asked from behind him. A pair of soft lips wrapped around his and he kissed back tiredly.
"Mhm. Relationship troubles," he murmered as Sam turned the chair sitting in front of him around and sat down on it like it was a horse.
"Who was it today?" Sam asked.
"Puck, Artie, and Quinn. And Brittany just left."
"Poor baby," the floppy-haired teen cooed, reaching over to stroke his boyfriend's cheek gently. Kurt grunted and immediately plopped himself into Sam's lap, burying his nose into the sweet-smelling crook of his neck.
"Do you want to go get some food?"
Kurt shook his head, exhausted.
"I'll buy you a soda from the soda machine in the hall."
"Empty carbs," he grumbled against Sam's skin.
"Sushi?"
He shook his head again.
"How about we just go hang out at my place?"
Kurt nodded and stood. As he packed his bag, grateful for an escape, his cell phone buzzed. Startled, he fumbled for it, groaning when he saw the caller.
Rachel.
Against his better judgement, he answered, exasperation clouded in his voice.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Kurt," Rachel whispered, breathlessly, as if she had been crying. Kurt sighed inwardly, trying to push away his impatience.
"Are you okay, Rachel?"
"Not really." He heard a sniffle, then a deep, shaky breath on the other line.
"You need to schedule an emergency meeting, Rach?"
"Yeah."
Kurt glanced at Sam, pointing to his phone. "I gotta meet up with Rachel," he whispered. "Hang out tomorrow?"
Sam's face fell, but he nodded and kissed the top of his head before he was out the door.
"Where are you?" Kurt mumbled hesitantly, slinging his bag over his shoulder.
"M-My house...could you come here?"
"Sure." He felt a small pang of guilt at how nonchalantly he was speaking, but continued in the same tone. "Be there soon."
He waited for the line to go dead before he hung up his phone.
Just another day in the life of Kurt Eugene Hummel.
He really should have started charging money for these kinds of things.
The steamy mid-afternoon atmosphere clung to his clothes as he rose out of his car and made his way up to Rachel's house. Slipping off his sweatshirt – the one Sam had given him for his 17th birthday – he breathed an instant sigh of relief. He didn't want to show up on Rachel's doorstep all sweaty.
Kurt hesitated before ringing the doorbell. He waited a half a minute before ringing again. Another 30 seconds. Again. Just after the 5th or 6th ring, when he was about to give up, the door clicked open and revealed a rumpled, more saddened version of Rachel Berry. Immediately, he scooped her up in a hug with as much sorrow as he could muster.
Finn. This girl's ego had been beaten black and blue because of that boy. Over the course of their ongoing relationship Kurt was beginning to wonder more and more how they could keep their steady disliking for one another under wraps. It was always the same thing for Rachel; did he truly love her? The monthly meetings he had with her soon turned into weekly ones, and after a while, Kurt felt like her house was basically his second home. After about six weeks or so he and Rachel had grown oddly inseperable, like acquantences who would do anything for each other.
"What did he do this time?" Kurt questioned once they were inside. He sat on the recliner, legs crossed in an almost professional manner, while Rachel sat on the couch across from him, huddled under a pile of blankets.
Rachel could feel hot tears rising in the corners of her eyes. "He dumped me."
Kurt's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "What?"
"I knew this day was coming, but...I didn't think it would hit me so hard." She sniffed and looked down, her soft bangs making an obscure curtain around her face.
"No, Rachel, he loved you," he said gently. "I'm sure he still does."
"He left me for someone else." The words literally came tumbling out of her. "I saw them. At Breadsticks. Loralei something. She just started at McKinley."
He nodded. He had seen the girl before; petite, brown hair. She was from Michigan, he believed. She was awfully pretty, too. His heart ached in his chest, and he snaked a hand across the coffee table and placed it on top of hers.
"And he broke up with you after you saw them, sweetheart?"
"I confronted him there. He claimed they were just having dinner, but I wouldn't have it. I guess he got mad at the fact I wouldn't believe him, because that's when he broke up with me. After I said that." She pulled out a crumpled tissue and dabbed at her eyes.
Kurt nibbled on his bottom lip, trying to think of something to say. He himself had never been stuck in a situation like this, and he hadn't done his research on this subject. He desperately wished they were in Miss Pillsbury's office right now; she probably had a pamphlet for this kind of thing.
"Do you still love him?"
Rachel seemed slightly startled by his blunt words. "Well, it's hard to say. I thought I did – for so long. And then she came along..." her voice cracked, but she managed to regain composure. "Yes. I love him. I love him, and I hate myself for it. But I love him."
Kurt tilted his head a little as Rachel continued.
"I want to give him a second chance so, so badly. So much it hurts, because I know it will hurt more if I lose him. But I don't know if he'll want to give me a second chance." She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "I know you can't tell me what to do, but can you tell me what you'd do in this situation?"
He pursed his lips. "We handle things very, very differently, Rachel. And you know that."
"I know. I just...I don't know what to do anymore."
Tears began spilling from the girl's eyes. Kurt stood, walking slowly to the couch, and placed a hand on Rachel's shoulder.
"I wish I had a mom," Rachel blurted through her tears, loud sobs sending shivers down her spine.
Kurt's heart felt heavy in his chest, and he tightened his grip on her shoulder.
"Rachel," he said, swallowing harshly. "If you truly love him, and you desperately want to give him a second chance, you'll know what to do."
The brunette seemed to have taken this into consideration before replying with a faint smile plastered on her face. "Thank you, Kurt. That means a lot to me."
And, sure enough, the next day at school, Rachel showed up as her usual self; bright-eyed, cheery, and talkative. She held Finn's hand in between classes, and kissed him whenever she got the chance. At rehearsal she was as effervescent as ever. It turned out that Loralei was actually a family friend and Finn was taking her out to dinner to celebrate her return to Lima.
But Kurt knew that in a few days Rachel would have the same conflicts with Finn, and would need him.
He could get used to this, maybe.