Disclaimer: Nope. Glee's still not mine.

Chapter Three: Day Out

Blaine answered the door when Finn rang the doorbell.

"Dude, your house is enormous!"

Blaine shrugged, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"I guess so. I don't really think about it."

"Dude, it's like a mansion or something."

Blaine shook his head.

"You should see Wes's house. Now that's a mansion. All the Warblers after parties are held there.

"Man, what do your parents do for a living?" said Finn, ogling the polished banisters, crystal chandelier, and a bunch of other things he couldn't possibly name. Had Kurt seen this? The boy would have a field day.

"They're both lawyers," said Blaine as he rounded up a bowl, some popcorn, and a couple cans of soda. "Dad's criminal, Mom's business enterprise."

"Business what?" asked Finn, giving Blaine a blank look.

"Really boring," said Blaine with a roll of his eyes.

Finn eyed the 42 inch plasma TV mounted on the wall of a room that appeared to be a whole in-home theatre.

"Looks like it pays well."

Blaine just shrugged again, looking embarrassed.

"Blaine," said Finn as the two boys settled themselves side-by-side on the leather couch, "I know it's kind of rude and all to ask this, but do all of the guys at Dalton have this kind of money?"

"Yeah, more or less," said Blaine. "I mean, it is a private school."

"Well, I mean, doesn't Kurt feel kind of...?"

Blaine ran a hand through his curly hair.

"We try not to make an issue of it." He looked at the tall boy sitting next to him. "Has he…said anything to you? Is he happy at Dalton?"

Finn smiled and clapped Blaine on the shoulder.

"I think he is. He's definitely happy with you."

Blaine's cheeks darkened slightly.

"Really? I-I'd like to think so. I'm certainly happy with him. I know he misses you guys a lot though."

"And we miss him. Well, they do. I mean, I live with him. Not that I don't miss him in New Directions. But we want him to be safe, and he wasn't safe at McKinley."

Blaine nodded.

"Not with that Karoffsky kid there."

They both scowled at the name.

"I know it's silly," said Blaine ruefully, "but I can't help feeling kind of responsible for him."

"That makes two of us, dude," said Finn. "Come on, let's watch some basketball."

*****BB*****

"Kurt!"

As soon as he walked through the doors of the Lima Mall Kurt was descended upon by the female half of the McKinley High glee club.

"Oooooh my God!"

Mercedes laughed and squeezed Kurt so tightly he thought his ribs might crack.

"Careful, this jacket is a Marc Jacobs limited edition!"

"I missed you, white boy!" said Mercedes.

"I missed you too, Mercedes!" laughed Kurt, hugging her back fiercely.

"Let him breathe, Mercedes," said Rachel. She was grinning from ear to ear as she patted him on the back. "How are you?"

"Really good, actually," said Kurt, grinning back at her. "Despite our loss at sectionals."

"You guys really rocked though," said Tina.

"Yeah, even I was nervous for a minute there," said Rachel.

Kurt raised an eyebrow. From Rachel this was high praise indeed.

"But you guys killed those original songs," said Kurt. "You totally deserved that win."

"Oh, come here," said Rachel. She pulled him into a hug and planted a kiss on her cheek.

Kurt hugged her back, blushing.

"Oh, you. You know," he said. "As much as I hate to admit it, I almost miss all of your diva drama."

Rachel shoved him gently in the shoulder.

"I knew you couldn't live without my talent."

Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Sure…"

"Alright, alright, stop hogging him," said Santana, pushing her way past Rachel and Mercedes. "I wants to get my Kurt on."

Once the rest of the girls had gotten a chance to say hello to Kurt, he linked arms with Mercedes on one side and Rachel on the other, with Quinn, Brittany, and Santana behind and Tina and Lauren in front, and the eight of them headed off into the mall proper.

*****BB*****

"Oh my God, you have to buy that," Kurt said to Tina. "It looks amazing on you."

"You think so?" said Tina, holding up the top.

"Completely," confirmed Kurt. "Trust me."

"What about this one?" asked Mercedes, holding up a knit top for Kurt's inspection.

"Nice…" said Kurt. "But I think this one would be even better." He handed her another top off the rack. "Plus it's on sale."

"Well that makes the deal for me!" said Mercedes. "Oh, Mr. Shop Clerk!"

As Tina and Mercedes went to pay for their purchases, Quinn turned to Kurt.

"So, what's it like at Dalton?"

"The guys have gots to be absolutely wanky," said Santana.

"Santana," said Quinn, "he has a boyfriend."

"So?"

Kurt blushed and rolled his eyes.

"Dalton's great," said Kurt. "The classes are harder and there's a lot of homework. But the kids are kinder. And I feel safe."

"And that's what's important," said Tina, returning with her shopping bag over her arm.

The other girls nodded, patting Kurt on the arms and shoulders.

"What about the New Directions? How are things going at McKinley?"

The girls exchanged glances.

"Drama," said Quinn wryly. "Always with the drama."

Kurt sighed.

"What else is new?"

"You having a boyfriend is new," said Brittany.

"Yeah," said Mercedes. "Last thing I heard you two were 'just good friends'. Come on Kurt, dish!"

"We want all the nitty gritty details," said Rachel.

Kurt blushed.

"There's really not much to say…"

"Oh, please," said Santana.

"Tell us how it happened!" said Tina.

"He—well—he kissed me," said Kurt.

"Just like that?" said Lauren.

"Pretty much," said Kurt, grinning. "He told me I moved him and then he kissed me." Kurt hugged himself, a warm fuzzy feeling rising within him at the memory. "We've been together since."

Santana pretended to gag. Lauren wolf whistled.

"We are so happy for you, Kurt," said Tina.

"Totally," said Brittany. "Because kissing can totally cure cancer."

The rest of the glee club raised their eyebrows and said nothing.

"So why isn't he here again?" asked Santana.

A dark look passed briefly over Kurt's face.

"He's watching basketball with Finn."

Rachel bit her lip at the mention of her ex-boyfriend, while Quinn wore a look Kurt couldn't quite name, somewhere in between smug and nervous.

Kurt looked between them, sensing the tension there, but wisely decided not to say anything, though he did cast a questioning look at the other girls in the group.

"Well, his loss," said Mercedes, cutting in and stepping between Quinn and Rachel to take Kurt's arm again. "Now let's get going, we've still got hella shops to hit up today!"

AN: Remember, this fic pretty much ignores anything after Original Song. Think of it as happening in a semi-AU time between OS & NoN.

What was originally supposed to be a kind of prelude to the main event of the story is now becoming a whole main piece in of itself. Which isn't a bad thing, just makes the fic longer, lol. In fact, the first idea for the 'main event' has changed a lot as I write this story.

Reviews are always appreciated. And always replied to, providing that you have an account & sign in to it, & haven't disabled the PM feature.

-SQ