A/N- I'm amazed by the response to the first chapter of this story, and will certainly continue writing it. Happy New Year.


"That's what it feels like when you touch me. Like millions of tiny universes being born and then dying in the space between your finger and my skin. Sometimes I forget."
― Iain Thomas, I Wrote This For You

...

"We just have to gather some intel."

"What kind of intel?" Kurt asks incredulously. It's late on a Thursday evening, and he's in the common room of his dorm trying to study with Mercedes, but she seems much more interested in the question of Quinn's sexuality.

"We need to get in there."

"In where?" He is exasperated, for the past couple hours, all he's heard have been vague plots from Mercedes who seems intent on keeping the freshman gossip mill going.

"I don't know, but right now we're on the outside, we need to get in."
"Why are you so focused on this?" Kurt asks, shooting a furtive glance around to make sure nobody is listening in.

"I could ask you the same question."

Kurt blushes brightly, he knows she could, and he loves her for not.

Suddenly, Mercede's eyes light up and she's got a smirk, "Follow my lead and act cool."

"What? Where are you-"

But the girl is already up, expecting Kurt to follow. They join a group of freshmen standing near a table talking, as they draw close, Kurt sees Quinn is seated at the table next to Santana, both are working at their laptops, casually participating in the conversation.

Kurt hears the tail end of whatever Tina has just said, "-I definitely want to live in this hall next year, it's the closest to the science buildings."

"Me too." Mercedes agrees, "I just wish I knew what more of the upperclassmen singles looked like. Especially if they have a good view of campus." She trails off just as Quinn shuts her laptop with a tired huff.

The blonde pushes some hair behind her ear, "My room overlooks the main green, do you want to see it?"

"That would be so cool, you're not too busy?" Mercedes asks sweetly. Kurt cannot believe how she is pulling this off.

"Yeah, I need a break." Quinn stands from the table, tucking her cellphone into the pocket of her jeans. She shoots one look at Santana over her shoulder, "Don't pull another one of your pranks on my computer."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Santana deadpans.

Quinn rolls her eyes and leads the group up the stairs and down the hall. Her door is totally decorated with notes, photos, tickets, handmade small signs, and much to Mercedes' excitement, a small rainbow flag. She looks between the flag and Kurt with raised eyebrows, but he shakes his head back at her.

A flag could mean anything. Quinn's made it clear that her room is a safe space if any of her residents ever needs something, she rarely locks her door.

The inside of the room is spacious and relatively neat, her walls are decorated with everything she must have accumulated over the past years in college, and Kurt, Mercedes, Tina, and Mike look around. Kurt's eyes land on a small silver pitch pipe, he recognizes it from years of choir, "Do you sing?" He asks.

Quinn's features soften as she sees the little circle on her dresser, "No, it's my girlfriend's."

Later that evening, in the safety of Mercedes' room, Kurt still insists that Quinn might not be gay. Girlfriend could be an ambiguous term referring to a friend who is a girl- not a significant other. Mercedes cannot believe Kurt's reluctance to admitting what seems obvious, then again, maybe she can believe it.

Kurt hates carbs. Well, that's a lie. He loves carbs, but hates that the ones presented in dining halls are all deep fried, coated in cheese, or rubbery and overcooked. As such, his diet has turned into something loosely vegetarian, and highly picky.

It's Sunday brunch and his plate is full of fruit, a piece of toast, and a questionable looking 'omelette'. Mercedes and Tina are engaged in a hot argument over the relative merits of glossy versus matte finish on dark purple nail polish. Kurt tunes them out and scans a gaze around the dining hall.

It's ten thirty- which for a weekend is still relatively early- so it's not too crowded, but it's not empty either. He amuses himself watching the other students milling about in various states of pajama wear.

His eyes catch on a familiar mane of blonde hair. Though at the moment it's significantly more tousled than he's used to seeing it. Quinn is carrying a mug of coffee, and a plate with only a bagel and some fruit, she's wearing sweats and a tank top that shows off her biceps.

He can't help but stare, she's so lovely, and she moves with grace that should not be allowed this early when he knows she's got to be horribly hung over (he heard the party in her room last night). But even through that, she looks incredibly young with her thick framed dark glasses he's never seen on her before.

Kurt watches her make her way across the dining hall to a packed round table in the corner. He recognizes Santana and Rachel as well as a few others he's seen around campus. Quinn drops ungracefully into the empty seat beside Rachel and plops her plate down in front of her. She props her foot up on a rung of Rachel's chair so her knee is against Rachel's thigh.

He doesn't say anything to alert Mercedes, but he stares as Rachel easily steals some of the fruit off of Quinn's plate. The blonde smiles and shakes her head before getting swept into a conversation with Santana. Her fingers find their way into the hair at the base of Rachel's head, from across the dining hall, Kurt can see the way she's unconsciously massaging the area with gentle strokes. Rachel leans into the touch, and drops a hand of her own onto Quinn's thigh.

He knows those touches, they're the simple gestures of two people so in tune to each other. Even though they aren't talking to each other, they're the small touches to let the other know they're still there. He's never seen those touches with anybody aside from with his parents when his mother was still alive.

It's all he's ever wanted, but it's something he's never expected he could get from another boy.


A/N- Sweetness to follow, thank you for reading and reviewing!