A/N How will Kurt's secret affect his friendship with Mercedes? And what happens when Jeff and Nick find out? Read on to find out.

I won't be updating this story everyday, but will try to post a new chapter every 2-3 days. School is back in session here, which means I am back to work.

…

Friends and Family

Kurt finished explaining about Atlantis, nanos, and immortals, and sat quietly, waiting for his best friend's reaction. He was scared that she would reject him now, and didn't want to intrude on her thoughts. Every second that passed in silence had his heart sinking more and more.

Mercedes just looked at him for what seemed like hours, but was probably less than a minute. When she finally spoke, Kurt was startled. "White boy, why the hell didn't you tell me all this sooner? I'd have kept my yap shut, I wouldn't go blabbing like some people! Instead you hide it from me and I have to find out by walking in on a scene from some gory horror movie?"

Kurt sat up straighter, taken aback by her anger. "I'm sorry, 'Cedes. I wanted to tell you, but...but I-I..."

"Cut it, Hummel, I get the fact that you need to keep this a secret. And now I assume you're going to use your mind tricks to erase my memory of this, but before you do, answer me one question."

Kurt nodded frantically. "Anything, what do you want to know?"

"Have you ever controlled me or read my thoughts?"

Kurt looked scandalized. "I'd never control you! Well, unless it was to save your life, but no, I've never controlled you, nor have I ever deliberately read your thoughts."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Never deliberately? What does that mean."

Kurt sighed. "Some times my shields slip when I'm tired or under too much stress. When that happens I get bombarded with peoples thoughts whether I want to or not. I've never tried to read your thoughts, but I have heard a few of them on occasion. Nothing too embarrassing or anything, I promise. It's actually how I knew to get you those earrings you loved so much for your birthday last year. You were thinking about them one day in class."

She studied his face again, and nodded. "Fine, not that it matters since I won't remember this tomorrow, will I? I don't even know why you told me anything in the first place. You could have just erased the incident from my mind to begin with."

The three immortals exchanged a look. Kurt sighed. "I'm not going to erase your memory. I trust you, Mercedes. I'd like to be able to talk to someone, besides Artie, who already knows, since he's Stephanie's lifemate, without constantly having to censor myself. You're my best friend."

The diva looked confused. "Lifemate?"

Stephanie smiled at the girl. "As Kurt explained, immortals constantly have to shield their minds from unwanted thoughts. Lifemates can neither read or control each other. You can relax around them, without worrying about them reading your thoughts or manipulating you. For me, finding Artie is even more of a blessing, as I am unable to fully shield my mind. I'm getting better at blocking them out, but it's still like static in my mind constantly when I am around other people. When I'm alone with Artie, it's like pressure being released, and I can feel almost normal again."

Mercedes smiled, wiping a tear from her eye. "That sounds so beautiful. I can see that he cares for you so much."

She returned her look to Kurt, and the dark haired immortal sitting behind him, arms wrapped protectively around the taller boy. "So, you and Blaine...?"

Kurt smiled and leaned back against the shorter boy. "Yes, Blaine is my lifemate. That was one of the reasons I came to Dalton, to convince him to fall in love with me."

She smiled in return, but then a frown crossed her face. "So, what about Karofsky and the jocks at McKinley? Why didn't you just take control of them and make them stop bullying you?"

Kurt frowned, looking down at the floor. "I could have, but I'd have had to reinforce it each time they walked past me in the halls. I can only physically control them when I have an unbroken line of sight. I can plant the idea in their mind that they don't want to bother me, but it weakens over time. It's just too much hassle."

Stephanie reached out and took his hand. "Well, I don't think you'll have to worry too much about Karofsky anymore. He's started seeing a therapist, secretly, of course. I've been monitoring him."

Mercedes looked confused again. "Karofsky? Therapist? What is that about?"

Kurt cleared his throat. "That's not my secret to tell, Mercedes. Please trust me on this. Hopefully things will work out for him, and he'll get up the courage to tell people when he is ready."

The darker girl nodded in understanding. There was a comfortable silence for a moment, but it was shattered when both Kurt's and Mercedes' phones chirped, signaling text messages. Kurt's was from Santana.

Stop macking on that prep school boy and get down here, Lady Lips. It's time to go.-Satan

"Tina says they are getting ready to leave," Mercedes, said, reading her text. "Come on, Boo. Let's go say our good nights!"

…

Monday afternoon, Kurt was sitting in the library during study hall, absently staring off in to space, when Blaine found him. "Hey, what's up? You look like you're a million miles away. Something bothering you?"

Kurt smiled at him. "Sorry, I guess I'm still just bummed that we lost on Saturday."

Blaine couldn't read the other boy's mind, but was pretty sure there was more to it than that, but knew there was no point pushing for more information. Kurt would tell him when he was ready. He smiled at his boyfriend, and sat beside him. "Well, I can see where you'd be bummed about missing a free trip to New York. But spring break is only two weeks away. We'll be going to Toronto, for a week in a penthouse apartment. We'll be going to see Lady Gaga in concert, plus, didn't your aunt also get us tickets for two musicals?"

Kurt smiled and nodded. "Yes, Wicked and Hair Spray. You should audition for Hair Spray some day. You'd be perfect for the part of Corny Collins."

Blaine laughed. "Only if you play Link."

They laughed and shared a quick kiss, pulling back before they could get too distracted. Just then Nick and Jeff joined them. "Hey guys! Nick and I are having a party Friday night, seven PM, at Nick's house. You two better be there!"

Kurt smiled at them. "I'll have to talk to my dad first, but I should be able to go."

Nick smiled. "Great! See you in Warbler practice later!"

…

Blaine knew that Kurt was getting restless there at Dalton. He knew that despite all the bad memories of his old school, the pale boy missed his friends immensely. He hated seeing his boyfriend looking so depressed. He knew the other boy wanted to go back to McKinley, and felt guilty that the only thing keeping the countertenor here at Dalton was Blaine himself.

He didn't know how to bring it up to the pale boy, though. By Friday he'd come up with a dozen different ways to start the conversation, but never got up the nerve. They got ready to go to Nick and Jeff's party, deciding to go together in Kurt's new custom SUV, courtesy of Uncle Lucian, complete with hidden mini fridge, as well as a few other surprises.

They arrived shortly after seven-thirty, the party already in full swing. The music was pounding throughout the house, thanks to a seriously awesome sound system with hidden speakers in almost every room. Aside from the Warblers, there were other Dalton boys who were friends of Nick and Jeff's, as well as some girls from Crawford Country Day, Dalton's sister school, and some of the other boys had invited their girlfriends.

Almost as soon as the boys entered, Thad greeted them, handing each of them a cup that reeked of alcohol. Kurt tried to decline, but Thad was rather insistent. "Come on, Kurtie! One cup won't hurt you!"

Kurt rolled his eyes. It was true, one cup wouldn't even affect him, but it would make the nanos work harder to remove the alcohol from his system, which would make it necessary to drink more blood later. He shrugged and gave in, accepting the drink. He and Blaine wandered around, talking with their friends and dancing. Their cups kept getting refilled, despite Kurt's resolve not to drink too much.

Almost everyone else at the party were in various stages of intoxication. Even Wes had a mild buzz going. He frowned as Kurt sat beside him. "How do you do it, man?"

The blue eyed boy looked at him in confusion. "Do what?"

Wes frowned. "You must have drank at least half a gallon of various types of booze, and you're completely sober!"

Kurt laughed, studying his friend, noting the slouched shoulders and obvious signs of being drunk. He shrugged, and spoke casually. "Must be the parasitic nanos in my blood that flush the alcohol out of my body before it can affect me."

The Asian boy looked at him, his intoxicated state making it hard to process what the younger boy had said at first, but once he understood it, he began to giggle. "Parasitic nanos! That's so funny, Kurt! You're such a comedian!"

Kurt just laughed with the other boy, patting him on the back before Blaine came back from the bathroom and reclaimed him for another dance, where they were plied with more alcohol. By ten, both he and Blaine could feel the nanos seeking more blood as they worked to remove the alcohol. Kurt tried to lead them out to the SUV for a couple of bags each, but their hosts cut them off.

"Hey, come on guys, you can't leave yet!" Jeff said, a little whine in his voice as he leaned heavily on his shorter boyfriend.

Nick, who seemed more sober than the blonde, nodded his head. "Yeah, come on, it's not even ten-thirty yet."

Blaine smiled at them. "We're not leaving. We were just going to get some fresh air."

"Uh huh," Jeff said, smirking. "You guys can't go make out in the cars, either! Come on, Kurt! Dance with me!"

Before he could protest, the blonde boy had dragged him back to where people were dancing. The auburn haired boy glanced back at Blaine, who was frowning and rubbing his stomach as the cramps began to get worse. He tried to walk back over to where the shorter boy was standing with Nick, but Jeff laughed and pulled him back. The blonde Warbler was kind of clingy when he was drunk.

"Come on, Kurtie, Dance with me! Blaine will be fine with Nick! I promise, he doesn't bite!"

Kurt sighed and turned back to the taller boy. "No, but Blaine might."

Jeff laughed, thinking Kurt was joking. Unfortunately, the pale boy wasn't joking. Blaine was a new turn, and he hadn't yet had to deal with the debilitating pain the nanos could cause when blood became scarce. Many new turns had difficulty controlling their teeth or their urges to feed when the pain began to get bad. He tried to keep his lifemate in view, to monitor his condition, but it was difficult with Jeff pulling him deeper into the dancing crowd.

It also didn't help that Jeff was drunkenly singing at the top of his lungs. When sober, the other boy had an amazing voice that was smooth and pleasant and had a nice range. Unfortunately when he was drunk, there was nothing smooth to the voice, and Kurt couldn't help laughing and being distracted by the almost cat on a fence screech coming from the boy. When the song changed to something a little slower, Kurt glanced back to here Blaine and Nick had been standing.

They weren't there.

A sense of dread came over Kurt, and he pulled away from Jeff and moved quickly to the spot, not noticing that the blonde had followed him, his only focus on finding his lifemate before the boy could do something he'd regret, or worse...

…

It hurts so bad! Blaine thought. He couldn't ever remember feeling cramps this bad in his stomach. It was hard to concentrate on what Nick was saying as he watched Kurt dancing with Jeff. He smiled fondly at his boyfriend as the pale boy laughed at the other boy's overly dramatic facial features as he sang.

"Are you alright, Blainers? You keep clutching your stomach, and you're literally whimpering in pain."

Blaine turned to look at his friend, but found his gaze stuck on the pulse in the other boy's throat.

"Blaine?" Nick asked again, but he couldn't seem to tear his gaze away from that tempting spot. He felt that curious shifting in his gums, but hadn't realized his fangs had dropped until Nick swore. "Jesus Blaine!"

The next thing Blaine knew, the other Warbler had grabbed his arm and had dragged him down the hall and into a bedroom. "Snap out of it, Blaine!"

The curly haired boy blinked and tried to lick his lips, only then noticing his fangs. A look of horror crossed over his face as he looked at the other boy, wondering how Nick could be so calm. "Oh, crap! I'm sorry Nick!"

"Blaine!" Kurt called out, rushing into the room, Jeff following a moment later. Blaine sighed with relief, seeing Kurt, and rushing over into the boy's arms.

"My fangs popped out. Nick saw them." He all but sobbed into the taller immortal's shoulder, barely audible enough for Kurt to hear, knowing neither of the others could hear.

…

Kurt looked towards the other boy, glad to see he was unharmed. The dark haired, blue eyed Warbler smiled at him. "I take it Blainers needs blood? I assume you have some in your vehicle? I'm sorry we stopped you from going out to get it. That's what you were trying to do earlier, wasn't it?"

Kurt was shocked the two boys were standing their so calmly. "H-how did you know?"

Jeff giggled. "I stole Blaine's books, those Luc Amerault ones. I figured it out when the second book talked about Etienne Argeneau being a computer programmer and being the creator of Blood Lust. It took Nick a little longer to figure it out."

Kurt nodded, his thoughts racing. "Um, how many of the books have you read so far?"

Jeff had to think for a moment, his thoughts still a little clouded from the alcohol. "Uh, I just started The Rogue Hunter. Nick is on Vampire, Interrupted. Why?"

Kurt sighed, pulling his phone from his pocket and dialing. A sleepy voice answered on the third ring.

"Kurt?"

"Hey, sorry if I woke you, but this is important. Jeff knows about us. He stole Blaine's books, and he's almost up to Dani's story."

There was a pause on the other side. "Put him on, please."

Kurt handed the phone to Jeff, who looked confused. "Stephanie?"

While the blonde talked to his cousin, Kurt turned back to Nick. "I'm going to get some blood for Blaine, and then we'll talk. Wait here, Please."

Kurt made certain his lifemate was okay, then moved as quickly as he could without using preternatural speed, grabbing a small trash bag from the glove compartment and quickly filled it up with a half a dozen bags, and returned to the guest bedroom.

He handed Blaine the first bag. The dark haired boy glanced around at the other two boys, a little self conscious, and turned his back before slapping the bag to his fangs. Kurt smiled at him and rubbed his back soothingly, as he glanced over at Nick.

Nick smiled at him. "I'm guessing you were born immortal?"

Kurt nodded. "Yeah, and for the record, yes, I really am only sixteen, at least for another month and a half."

Nick continued to smile. "So, all those aunts, uncles, and cousins of yours you keep talking about, they're all immortal?"

Kurt nodded again. "Everyone but my stepbrother, Finn. He still doesn't know about us, so please don't say anything around him, or any of the others. Only Mercedes and Artie know, and Artie only knows because he is Stephanie's lifemate."

Nick frowned at this. "Stephanie, as in Jeff's cousin?"

At that, Jeff handed the cell phone back to Kurt, looking much more sober than he had a few minutes ago. "She's immortal, now. A rogue attacked her and Dani."

Kurt smiled sympathetically at the taller boy. "Yes, I didn't want you to find out the truth through the books. Did she explain everything to you?"

The other boy swallowed hard and nodded. "Endentates, no-fangers, rogues. Leonius." The last word was spoken as if it left a nasty taste in the boy's mouth. Kurt nodded and patted him on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry she couldn't tell you the truth sooner. Don't be mad at us about deceiving you. Stephanie was really happy when she found out you were here. She's really missed her family."

Jeff smiled at him. "No worries, Kurt. I understand. And now that I know the truth, I'm glad I can be there for her." They smiled and shook hands.

"Besides," Kurt teased, "We're practically family now."