The Stranger's Son

paperstylehearts

A/N:Oh wow, thank you guys so much! I actually had this ready within days of publishing chapter two but as cliché as it sounds, for the first time in my seven years on fanfiction, my computer caught a virus. It happened as I was downloading gLee so maybe the universe is trying to tell me something… then it magically disappeared so I'm uploading this in case it decides to come back, so if you don't hear from me, assume that it has :/

Also, for some reason every time I use italics, after I upload the words on ffic, it groups them . Ugh. I apologize for that. 0_x If anyone knows how to make it stop doing that, please let me know. EDIT. So apparently I have to use html codes; what a waste of time…

Thank you for your reviews! Special mentions to my all time favorite person clovrboy for being awesome and thomasinacoverly who made me more excited about this story than any one person should actually be.

…Chapter Three... Jar of Hearts

Kurt was still fuming by the time he reached the principal's office. Or was it Dumbledore's? There were no noticeable differences as he waltzed inside the round office. Honestly, some of the contraptions in the room looked like they belonged to the wizarding world. The principal's washbasin even looked like a Pensieve and there were enough books in here to open a library. Portraits of principals past adorned the office—but Kurt let the Harry Potter fan in him slide, right now he was a man on a mission. The secretary hadn't even bothered to stop him because there was no way she was going to disturb someone who looked that angry.

"Principal Saunders, Kurt Hummel." He shook his hand without the slightest smile on his face, "A word, please?"

The principal merely looked at him with a vague sense of interest, "And what can I do for you Mr. Hummel?"

"It's my first day. I'm substituting for Mademoiselle Rousseau. I was hoping we could go over the contract and talk about any necessary changes."

"Ah, Mr. Hummel. My apologies. I was still expecting Mademoiselle Holliday." He looked Kurt up and down, "You don't have one of those—alternate—names on other days do you?"

Kurt looked very confused but shook his head and decided the principal was just a tired old man. He then made a gesture for Kurt to sit down which he gratefully accepted.

Saunders quickly proved he would be wasting no time with their discussion. "Let me get straight to the point. I realize you're new to Dalton and I normally don't expect this of any of my substitute teachers but I might need your tenure here to be longer than you are normally required for. My only question is, are you available?"

Kurt thought back to his completely lonely fifth floor hotel apartment, how despite how vastly decorated it was, that there really was nothing to go back to (or to look forward to) and then he nodded.

"Very well. Your contract requires you to be available to work for the rest of the school year as Dalton's French teacher." He pushed a paper towards Kurt. "Judging by your previous academics and experience, I assume you are more than fit for this role."

Kurt almost choked, "You're offering me a full time job? You haven't even seen me teach yet."

Principal Saunders cleared his throat, "I'm sure this offer will be more than suitable for you." He then turned the forwarded piece of paper around so that the writing was facing Kurt who peered down staring wide-eyed at the offer he had been given. Well, Saunders was right about one thing. The offer was more than suitable. Kurt couldn't believe his luck, particularly with the morning he had. Ah, this was the universe's way of apologizing for being so harsh to him today. But still… he was a teacher, goddamnit. Just a French teacher. A full time French teacher who no longer needed his best friend Julie to buy him a new suit anymore…

And though he had initially seemed to be in a bit of a rush, Saunders took the time to explain himself now. "Miss Holliday took the liberty of sending me over your impressive resume. I believe she may have been scared away from the length of time I needed her here so she nominated you as her best opt out. It's a pity she could only stay for a maximum of three months. The boys took a rare shining to her, particularly the school's glee club, our fine and reputable Dalton Academy Warblers. She assured me, after her, you were the next best tutor to mentor these students."

"Does the school need a glee club teacher too?"

Saunders smiled, "The way our curriculum works it so happens that one is not necessary. At Dalton, we have an elected student council composed of senior Warblers who direct the club. However, yes, a teacher will step in as and when required to escort them to and from competitions and so forth."

Kurt didn't even stop to take as breath. "I offer myself for the role, sir. If it's vacant. And if it isn't—give me the name and number of the teacher that has occupied the role and I promise you I'll convince them otherwise."

All in the name of dramatic effect, Kurt whipped out his iPhone—but was suddenly reminded of an incident that had only occurred moments ago. He was also suddenly reminded about why he had even come to have a word with the principal in the first place… His face fell. Saunders was talking to him but all his words seemed to fly over Kurt's head.

"Mr. Hummel?"

"Hmm?"

"I said I was sure we could arrange for you to meet the Warblers... Is something the matter?"

"Principal Saunders, before I sign this contract, I do have one request…"

"Yes, we have staff parking available. And a coffee machine."

"No, not that. Is there any way you'd be able to excuse a student from my classes?"

Saunders' expression was evidence that he had probably never been asked such a question before. "In Heaven's name—why on Earth would you want that? Is this student causing you grief? All I need is a name and I'll bring him down here immediately! This kind of behavior is intolerable at Dalton."

"No, it's not that. It's just—I'm a very private man and through no fault of his own, this student has somehow become involved with my personal life and I no longer think it's appropriate for me to teach him."

"His name, Hummel?"

"Blaine. I'm not sure what his surname is but if you can bring up the senior's files, I can point him out to you."

"Wait—you must be referring to Blaine Anderson. We only have one senior with that name. I just—I can't understand why, of all students, you wouldn't want him in your class."

"Well as I explained before" –

"Blaine Anderson is a model student. He brought the Warblers to Nationals three years in a row and they even took it home last year. He's highly looked up to by his peers. He's received distinctions in all of his AP classes and we had him transferred to Paris for three months earlier this year when a school in France paid for his scholarship to study there. Personally, I think he is a pleasant young gentleman with extraordinary manners and a perfect young ambassador for this school."

Kurt just sat there stunned. Was Saunders really talking about the same Blaine Anderson? Kurt couldn't believe it. Luckily he'd watched enough Gossip Girl to know what to say next. "So exactly how much dowry does Blaine's father pay to this school?"

Saunders' eyes narrowed. "That information is classified—and irrelevant."

"Well it must be a pretty sum for you to be able to have enough balls to lie about Blaine like that."

"Mister Hummel, excuse yourself! And do not forget who you're talking to!" Saunders' grip on Kurt's unsigned contract suddenly became tighter. Kurt took no notice.

"I have it on good authority that Blaine's father is a rich, rich man. I also have it on good authority that Blaine is repeating a year at Dalton because amongst other things, he failed at French and has to now take remedial classes. Furthermore, he does not know his place and is by far nothing short of an arrogant, spoilt little boy."

Principal Saunders eyed Kurt very carefully. He could not afford to throw the young man out of his school as Dalton was desperate for a French teacher ever since Mademoiselle Rousseau had been on pending investigation with the school board. But he would not tolerate this inappropriate attitude from him either. Tired eyes locked on Kurt's determined ones, he pressed a button on his desk-phone. "Shirley? Can you locate Blaine Anderson's student file for me and bring it to my office please?"

"Right away, Principal Saunders."

The stout woman wandered into the office and handed Saunders a thick manila folder. Kurt eyed it curiously and could tell from where he sat that this file belonged to Blaine. He could also tell from the corner of his eye that the woman was staring at him. He turned to face her and gave her a forced smile without realizing she was the very same old woman who had seen the incident between him and Blaine this morning.

"Perhaps," suggested Saunders now giving the folder to Kurt, "before your first class with Mr. Anderson, you should occupy your time with some light reading."

Kurt took the folder apprehensively and opened the front cover. An array of Blaine's school photos graced the first pages including his most recent professional school photograph. At first Kurt was confused—he wasn't exactly sure why Saunders was showing him this—but as he flicked the pages he suddenly found exactly what it was Saunders meant for him to see.

And even Kurt, who could always manage to find something to say, could not bring himself to close his mouth from shock.

~.~

Blaine and Sebastian were sitting and chatting in the glee rehearsal room waiting for the other Warblers to arrive—but they weren't expecting their classmates any time soon. In fact they had come here early, straight after their planned meeting in the car park, so that they could talk privately about the apparent 'amazing' plan Sebastian had already come up with to help Blaine.

"Well, that was fast," Blaine said, a little in awe but mostly just surprised.

"I can't contain how genius I am," Sebastian said smugly, "It's almost a curse." As Blaine swallowed up his annoyance at Sebastian's arrogance he also tried to look deep down for some of the patience he held for the boy altogether and waited for him to continue.

"So—I won't know the finer details of the plan until we can suss out some more about this guy but I vote, now that we know for sure Holly isn't returning here, that he be our glee teacher."

Blaine arched an eyebrow, "We don't need a glee teacher. Also his name is Kurt Hummel—and since when did you become on a first name basis with Miss Holliday?"

"She had a thing for me." This was a lie of course and Blaine knew it but there was no point in pressing the matter. "Anyway," Sebastian concluded, "the more excuses you have to spend time with this guy the better. You want to get know his character and to do that—you gotta find out what he's like. Learn exactly what it is about him that's going to be easiest to crush. His vulnerabilities, his insecurities. What do you know about him already?"

"That he has an iPhone?" Blaine answered out loud. And that he dresses amazingly.

Sebastian shrugged, "It'll do. We have to find a way to steal it."

"What?"

"It's going to be loaded with information, Blaine. An iPhone is a very personal item."

Blaine shrugged. Maybe trusting Sebastian wasn't such a good idea. He wanted to get his revenge on Kurt yes, but the only thing he planned to steal was his heart. He didn't want to have to make him suffer too much.

Despite only ever being aware of himself, Sebastian seemed to notice that Blaine felt uncomfortable. "Would you relax? We'll return it before he even notices it's gone."

"Whatever." Blaine shrugged trying to look impartial about the whole thing. "Tell me what else you've got."

Sebastian rubbed his hands together. Blaine supposed this was because it was a little cool inside but Sebastian looked comically diabolical. Blaine grinned to himself as Sebastian went on.

"So. We get him to partake in glee club. We steal his iPhone for information. And I know it's worn out on me but you gotta turn that dapper school boy charm on again."

Blaine crossed his arms. It was kinda cool in the rehearsal room. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you've got to be a model student. Stints like you pulled in the car this morning, while hilarious, are only going to push your boy away. By now, Saunders' has probably already told Hummel what a good little boy you are. So show him that. Be the teacher's pet, Blaine. In every sense of the word. He probably thinks Saunders' is out of his mind saying all that stuff about you, so prove him wrong. 'Cos when you do, that Hummel kid's gonna lap it all up. I know he's got a baby face but that kid's fresh out of uni. There's no way he could be anymore than a couple of years older than us."

Blaine nodded, "Yeah, he's twenty-two."

Now it was Sebastian's turn to be surprised—and of course, a little awed. "I'm amazed you know so much about your subject already Blaine. I really must be a good teacher."

"Well I've got to admit, apart from the phone stealing, I kinda like your plan, Bas."

"Of course you do. Now when Hummel sees that side of you, there's no way he's gonna turn down your advances, thus making your path into his pants, a lot easier."

Again, all Blaine could do was nod. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now all this planning—does it come with a reward?"

And although Blaine was slow on the uptake, he hadn't known what Sebastian actually meant, he quickly caught on when the taller boy's arms wrapped around Blaine's waist. Blaine tried to smile but he felt uncomfortable and even though Sebastian was cute he made Blaine want to vomit and date a girl.

Well Blaine, you're the idiot who suggested you'd sleep with him if he helped you.

Although—it wasn't Blaine's fault that he could only use sex to bargain with when it came to Sebastian. Because at the end of the day, Sebastian was a sex-starved shark. A born predator, he swam around in a jar of hearts. (Incidentally, also the title of a song that Jake, one of Sebastian's many targets, had appropriately sung once at Warbler's practice after Bas had told him he was bored of him). Sebastian wasn't all bad it was just… he was the kind of guy who even found thrills in hunting his prey. But Blaine wasn't like that. He was just an angry beaver going after the naughty baby penguin that had hurt his daddy unicorn. Snapping back to the fact that Sebastian still had his arms around him, Blaine closed his eyes. Maybe if he tried really hard, he could pretend Sebastian was someone else. And then the fact that Sebastian was now nuzzling his nose against Blaine's cheek wouldn't be so half bad. Or the fact that Sebastian now had his hands cupping Blaine's face and was so close to him (close enough that he could feel his breath), wouldn't be so uncomfortable either. "C'mon Blaine," he whispered, "If you want me to stick around for dessert, you gotta let me taste the entrée first…"

He didn't even wait for Blaine's consent. Before Blaine even knew what was happening, they were kissing. He didn't stop Sebastian because Blaine convinced himself that after all his help he probably owed Sebastian this much. The kiss wasn't half that bad either. Blaine may still be a virgin but he'd spent enough time with guys to know the difference between a good and bad kiss, and Sebastian might be a douche, but he was also a damn good kisser.

~.~

Kurt's first class was with a budding group of freshman whose blazers were far too long and haircuts too short. Although the look was cute—in the same way Rachel convincing Finn for the both of them to wear matching t-shirts last Hummel-Hudson Christmas was—none of them appealed to him whatsoever, not even the young gentleman who reminded him a great deal of a male version of his old crush Sam Evans.

"Au revoir class! Please have your homework ready for me by Friday!"

Not one of the nervous boys bothered to comment but Kurt was unmoved by this. His next two periods were free in which he considered calling Julie, or at least his father to find out how long his car was going to take, but he had so much work to prepare for his next class he found himself pressed for time. He cheered up slightly when a passing junior complimented his beret. I knew it! Kurt thought to himself, I knew it wasn't cheesy.

As the day came to a close, Kurt was actually rather proud of himself. True his head was killing him and all he wanted to do was crawl into an empty class and sleep. But at least he hadn't run into Blaine since this morning.

And of course he had just jinxed it.

Kurt couldn't even understand how he had overlooked it but he realized with increased trepidation that he would have to face Blaine come his last class. How do I even mentally prepare myself for this? How do I look him in the eye and face him knowing what I know…

As the seniors started filling his class, it became very obvious to Kurt that Blaine was indeed admired by his peers. He was laughing and joking with his friends as they entered. Perhaps Kurt wouldn't have to pay any attention to this kid at all. (It was a lot easier to not think of Blaine like that if Kurt kept referring to him as 'just some kid').

Even if said kid decided that the seat closet to the front would be the best place to sit.

Kurt sighed. He started like he did all other classes—he wrote his name on the blackboard. And when he turned around everyone was sitting upright, ready for his instructions.

~.~

"That was a great class you taught today, Monsieur Hummel."

Kurt had watched as all the boys filed out of the room, had pretended not to notice that Blaine had purposefully taken longer to pack so he would remain behind, had tried very hard not to acknowledge the way he slowly strutted over to Kurt's desk…

"Merci," Kurt accepted, but complimenting Kurt could not be the only reason Blaine had stayed back. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Actually, I was wondering when you were going to start those remedial classes."

Kurt almost snorted, "Well, as we're both very well aware, you hardly need them."

Wow, Sebastian was right. He had warned Blaine this might happen, that Kurt would already know this much. Lucky he knew exactly what to say next. "Well as it turns out, despite living in France, I'm still no master of the language. I could really use the extra help"— He was distracted when he noticed that Kurt was eyeing him skeptically but he quickly let it slide. "Look I learnt more from your class in this one day than I did all of last year with Mademoiselle Rousseau. You're an excellent teacher."

There was a small pause in which both Blaine and Kurt shared studious smiles. At least, until Blaine broke into a whisper, "Honestly—I just want a chance to spend more time with you."

Kurt sighed uncomfortably. Had the smile been too much? "Blaine, we've been through this. I haven't even been here a day and you're making me sound like a broken record. I'm your" –

—"teacher, I know. But again, stop with the assumptions. I'm not looking for a relationship. We got off on the wrong footing and I just want a chance for us to start again. I apologize for my behavior this morning. It was completely inappropriate. I was cheesed with the way you handled things with my dad and I'm sorry."

Kurt had to admit—Blaine was very charming. But he couldn't shake the feeling that he had a secret agenda. No one changed this quickly, not even Idina Menzel swapping costumes betweens takes for Wicked. But for now, he was resigned to give in. "Fine. It looks like you're in luck. The contract I signed this morning makes it mandatory for me to teach remedial classes. Apparently a lot of the students here suffer with their French. I'll put a notice out on the board soon. You're free to sign up if you wish."

Blaine nodded graciously, "Thank you. Now, I do have one more thing I was hoping you could help me with."

And really, how could Kurt say no when he asked him so politely like that? How could he refuse those gorgeous light brown eyes? "Yes?" he asked his voice inappropriately low for someone who had recently been tossing the teacher-card everywhere.

Blaine grinned all too confident. "I know school has ended for the day but I have Warbler's rehearsals now. I was hoping you might be interested in accompanying me? I'm auditioning for a solo and I could really use the support. Also, I heard you used to be a key member of the group Dalton is up against in sectionals and I wouldn't mind some advice either."

"Well," Kurt said, taken back again by Blaine's charm. "I suppose I do know a thing or two about glee club. I'll be happy to look in on your rehearsal." Kurt didn't add that he knew Blaine was the whole reason the Warblers did so well. No need to swell the boy's head. And this way, Kurt had found his way into glee club without having to convince another teacher to give up their role.

"Excellent!" Blaine enthused, "And um, you know, if you er… need a lift after class–"

"Blaine," Kurt warned, not entirely sure why he was so against the proposal. He supposed it was because he was still skeptical over Blaine's sudden changed attitude. It's not like his classes could really have that effect on people. Because there was no way Kurt would admit he was that good, even if his salary here was ridiculously awesome.

"C'mon, hear me out first," Blaine pleaded, "No funny business, I promise. But if you still feel more comfortable making your own way home, that's great too." Blaine glanced down at his watch; he was giddy with excitement that everything was going in his favor right now but the Warblers meant everything to him and he really didn't want to be late. "Shall we?" he asked Kurt and led the way out without waiting for a response as Kurt gathered the last of his things and followed him out.

"Blaine?" Kurt asked walking just that much faster to catch up with him. The hallways were still occupied with lingering students. Did no one want to go home around here? Heaven knows on the days Kurt didn't have glee club, he was the first one out of McKinley.

"Hmm?" Blaine asked looking forward to the crowds their last performance was bound to draw; there were still quite a few students around waiting for the Warblers no doubt.

"Between you and me, why is Mademoiselle Rousseau on pending investigation?"

"Funny thing that," Blaine smiled, opening the doors to the cozy rehearsal room, "She was apparently involved with a student."

~.~