Tìme'em

by Elle D'Elajoie

What happens when Sam allows Kurt to share his family's financial problems with Burt? What other secret does Sam share with Kurt that day he delivers pizzas to Dalton? What happens when Karofsky tells Kurt that Santana is blackmailing him and allows Kurt to tell Burt the truth? Starts in February of Season 2.

4. Chapter 4

"Did you really like Avatar or were you just humoring me?"

"I really did like it. It wasn't what I was expecting with as many people as I heard make fun of it. Maybe the people making fun of it didn't actually understand the story? Maybe they were expecting something different? I'm not sure. I was serious when I said that I'd need to watch it again to pay more attention to the details. The artistry of it was so amazing, sometimes I lost focus on what was being said because I was looking at the artistry of it."

"Okay."

"When I step outside of my usual interest areas and watch something new with you, I won't try to tear it apart. You're sharing part of yourself with me. I will watch carefully to see why it means so much to you, not to find ways to ridicule you for liking it. I would hope you would do the same. When we first met, I mentioned several movie stars from the 50s and 60s that you didn't recognize. I would hope that when we get around to watching some of those movies that you would appreciate what I like about them, even if you would never choose to rewatch the movie on your own. We don't have to have exactly matching interests to get along. You're my boyfriend, not my pet project to turn into a clone of me."

Sam laughed. "That's good because I am certain that I can't rock a kilt the way you can."

"Sweet talker." Kurt kissed him. "I'm not going to attempt to change you. I didn't make you think that by offering to cut your hair, did I?"

"No. All you did was trim it up like it had been before it got shaggy. It's not like you gave me some completely different hairstyle like you were trying to change me."

"Just checking because I kept teasing you about your hair color back last fall."

"I don't dye it."

"Uh huh." Kurt kissed him. "Whatever you're doing to it is fine with me as long as you're not damaging it. I draw the line at hurting your hair."

Sam laughed. "So, I could dye it blue and you'd be okay with that?"

"As long as you use a decent product or have it done professionally. I'm pretty sure you don't want to be sporting the shaved head look when your hair breaks off from all the chemical damage. But as for the color or style, you can do what you like. How we wear our hair is just an expression of ourselves, if we want it to be. Just like our clothes. I'm not going to try to change your style. You totally rock the 'I threw this on in five minutes' look in a way that I never could."

"I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult."

"It's a compliment for sure. This morning, you opened your bag, and put on a Henley and a pair of jeans and you looked really sexy. If I did the same thing, I would look like I was doing the walk of shame after a night out partying."

Sam laughed. "I can't say since I've never seen you dressed that way."

"Well, it can be part of the fashion show. I still have the clothes from my butch phase last year."

"I don't know. They might be a big turn on." He kissed Kurt.

"Maybe you're just a horny teenage boy and anything turns you on."

"Could be." He kissed Kurt. "But I'm about 99% certain that it's YOU in anything that's the turn on."

He's such a flirt and he's flirting with me!

Sam ran his hand under the edge of Kurt's shirt over the area where there was still bruising. "Are you sure this doesn't hurt?"

"I'm sure."

"It will take an enormous amount of self-restraint not to pummel him into a locker when I see him Monday. And I can guarantee he won't come out on the winning side if I tell Puck that you still have bruises. He's oddly protective of you. Almost like he has a crush on you."

"He probably just feels guilty. He's the one who told me to come spy on the Warblers that day we were working on ideas for the 'boys against girls' competition. And later he couldn't risk going back to juvie, so he couldn't beat the crap out of Karofsky to make sure that he left me alone. And then I left and came here. He probably figures that if he hadn't be stupid enough to end up in juvie in the first place that I'd still be back at McKinley instead of here at 'Gay Hogwarts.'"

"Could be. But his probation is up, and if he found out that you still have bruises, Karofsky would be sorry. I'm sure he thinks that we can protect you if you came back."

"I can't come back with the way things are there. If Azimio and Karofsky were gone, then I could handle the others. I'm still debating about what to do about next year. I don't want to be protected by a group of students. I want the students in the school to not attack other students. Being protected means that I'd always be in a state of hypervigilance. What if I need to go to the bathroom in the middle of class? Meeting Karofsky in the bathroom alone while everyone else is in class is a perfect way for him to teach me a lesson with no repercussions. I wouldn't put it past him to get someone in each of my classes to text him if I left the room so he could get me alone. I don't want covered in slushies. I don't want shoved when I walk down the halls. I just want to attend school and not be afraid. And all of you protecting me won't provide that. Plus, I want you to graduate, not get suspended or expelled for fighting." Kurt kissed him. "I don't want you hurt instead of me. I want no one to get hurt anymore."

"So, that's a good segue to me coming out. You don't seem to want me to."

"I don't want your family to be on the receiving end of what has been done to mine. Your family is already struggling to make ends meet. If people start to vandalize your home, that will only make things worse for your family. If your house is going to go on the market, having it vandalized will lower the property value – a lot. People who want to buy houses don't want to buy them in neighborhoods with vandalism. Plus, the cost of repairing the damage will only tap into resources you're trying to collect to prevent the foreclosure."

"I know, but I don't want to be secretive."

"I get that. And I appreciate it. I really do." He kissed him. "But I want us to be smart about this. You already know that Finn isn't going to be actually supportive, at least not without some kind of actual counseling or therapy. Quinn can be vicious. I know that you met the reformed, 'I'm a good girl' version of Quinn, but she can be a conniving bitch. She was a willing participant in the behavior that got her pregnant and she treated Puck like he was a rapist half the time. She acted like it was his fault – all of it. She told Finn the baby was his. That's just evil. After the truth came out, she was awful to Puck most of the time. She is very determined to stay at the top of the food chain. She could go either way on this. She could be supportive by saying that she was intentionally being your beard. Or she could go all ice queen and say that you led her on, lied to her, and broke her heart to get more sympathy from Finn, who I am sure will be starting to lose interest again soon. I already told my dad that I thought he should put Finn in therapy. He's been yanked back and forth between Rachel and Quinn for the last two years. I don't know if he actually really likes either one of them. But being desired is highly addictive. You may not know since you weren't here. He cheated with Rachel when he thought Quinn's baby was his. It's a serious soap opera thing with the three of them."

"I've seen her manipulative side. I gave her the benefit of the doubt when I was being played. But I can see her being mean about me saying that I'm gay. I can also see her saying that it was all pre-arranged so that she comes out looking better. I guess it depends on whether she's looking for sympathy or a pat on the back for helping out a fellow Gleek."

"It's a toss up. It will probably depend on whether she still has Finn or not when she finds out."

"So, how do you want to proceed? I'm willing to face whatever comes at me personally, but you're right that I don't want my family to get hurt in the crossfire."

"Tomorrow, I propose that we just act like friends here in the school. We need more time to formulate a real plan and we need to sleep. I want to help you get caught up, not sleep all morning. I really, really don't want you to have to repeat this semester. You've more than likely already repeated a grade like me."

"Yeah. Second grade."

"Same for me."

"Mine was because no one had figured out that I was dyslexic and I couldn't read well enough to move on to third grade."

"I'll tell you about mine some other time, okay?"

"Sure."

"How do you want to sleep?"

"Did you sleep okay last night?"

"I did."

"Then let's just go with that. We'll try other ways another time."

Kurt kissed him, and then turned over. They snuggled up like they had the night before and fell asleep.

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The next morning Kurt woke up and stretched and turned over. He kissed Sam gently on the lips. "Wake up, sleeping beauty."

"Mmm."

Kurt giggled.

"I could really get used to this. I really like giggles and cuddles in the morning." He kissed Kurt. "And kisses."

"I'm going to get dressed and go grab some food and come back. Go ahead and get started on something while I'm gone."

Sam didn't let loose of him and kissed him again. "Homework, smoamwork." He smiled. "Kisses are much better."

"I agree. But staying in high school forever is not on the agenda."

"Don't be such a Vulcan so early in the morning."

Kurt laughed. "You're adorable. My Vulcan self is going to get us food, which will hopefully help turn your brain to study mode."

"Doubtful, but I'm willing to give it a shot." He finally released his hold on Kurt, but not until after he had kissed him again.

Kurt put his sweats on and headed down to the cafeteria, where he grabbed an apple, an orange, two Greek yogurts, sneakily wrapped some bacon in some napkins and stuck it in the kangaroo pocket on the front of his hoodie along with the pieces of fruit and the cartons of yogurt. He made two cups of coffee and carried them carefully. The cafeteria monitor looked at him strangely.

"Too much schoolwork. Eating in my room while I read in silence."

She nodded and let him leave.

He tried to tap on the door with his shoe.

"Kurt?"

"My hands are full. Open the door, please."

Sam opened it and shut it behind him.

"Spoons," Kurt said in aggravation.

"Spoons?"

"I don't have any. We'll just have to make do." Kurt emptied his pocket onto his desk.

"Oh, you got the Greek yogurts, but no spoons. That's okay."

"Do you want the apple or the orange?"

"You pick. I like both."

"Me too. Stop being so agreeable and choose what you want," Kurt teased.

Sam took the orange and started to peel it. Kurt unwrapped the bacon.

"Mmm. I see you snuck out some of the good stuff."

Kurt laughed. "I did. I couldn't see any feasible way to get the eggs up here."

Sam laughed. "I suppose not. This is good." He opened the container with what was left of the banana bread. "Two slices, just like you asked."

"I see you liked it a lot or you were just hungry and ran out of food in the sack of food I packed."

"Actually I saved some of that for today so I wouldn't get hungry while I'm out delivering this evening. And I love the bread. It's so bread-like and not full of evil carbs."

Kurt kissed him. "I'll make you more next weekend."

"Thank you." Sam opened the yogurt and tipped it up like it was a milkshake and poured it into his mouth. What he couldn't tip out, he used the bread to wipe out and eat.

"Good idea."

They finished everything and Kurt dumped out the trash. He headed to the bathroom to wash his hands and Sam followed him in.

"Alright. Time to get to work," Kurt declared.

Under Kurt's guidance, Sam finished all of the assignments that he hadn't turned in on time. Kurt took his laptop to the floor computer lab and printed everything out. Sam put it all in the binder with the other assignments.

"Get dressed, but not in your uniform shirt. I got you a meal ticket for lunch. It's all you can eat. We just need to head back up here in time for you to change your shirt and get to work on time."

"Thank you." He put his pajamas in his bag and pulled his clothes out. He pulled the uniform shirt out of Kurt's closet and hung it over the back of the desk chair. He put all of his schoolwork back in the bag and looked around.

"Just leave that toothbrush here. I'll get another one for you to use at home. That way you won't have to keep packing stuff like that."

Sam nodded. "C'mere."

Kurt stepped into his open arms. "Thank you for everything. I'm turning all of that in tomorrow. Hopefully, it will be enough to pull my grades back up to at least Ds for now. If I can stay caught up, maybe I can pull them back up to Cs by the end of the year."

"When you turn these in tomorrow, talk to your teachers again. Now, that they've seen that you're serious, ask them to accept each week's work the following Monday morning before school."

"Why?"

"Tell them that you don't have a laptop anymore and that the library closes right after you get off from work. Explain that you need to do the assignments on the weekends when you have the ability to use a computer and you have more time to get it done. That way maybe you can get full points on all of your work from now on. That way every weekend, I can help you and you can keep up. If you had a laptop and internet access at home, I could help you from here, but without that, there's nothing I can do from so far away."

"I'll ask. The worst they can say is 'no' and you're right, when I hand them all of the missing assignments, maybe they'll see that I'm trying."

"Let's go eat. I usually eat lunch with Trent, Nick, and Jeff. It's part of my 'integration into Dalton life' program the counselor requires of me. I won't bring up anything about Regionals or your financial situation or anything. I'll let you answer anything they ask, if they ask. I'll follow your lead."

"Have I told you that you're awesome?"

"Umm. Not in the last hour," Kurt teased.

Sam grabbed him and hugged him. "Well you are."

Kurt kissed him. "Come on."

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Sam and Kurt ended up eating lunch alone since the other three were nowhere to be seen.

"They must be trying to finish up their homework because we're having rehearsal again all afternoon."

"That's fine. It just means I get you to myself for longer. The food here is good."

"It is. I'm sure that's part of why it costs so much to attend school here. They cook real food and serve it three meals a day, seven days a week."

"If you lived here in Westerville, could you go to school here still?"

"Yeah. There are day students. Most of them live around here or in Columbus. The tuition itself isn't that high, well, I mean it's still expensive compared to free public school, but I don't think it's any higher than the other private schools in Columbus. It's adding the room and board that makes the cost jump up so much. They have to have adults living here and the security staff and all the regular stuff like water bills and electricity bills, and then the enormous amount of food that 400+ teenage boys eat each day."

"I can imagine. Especially, since you're not being given tiny servings of slop."

"Definitely not. They have an excellent salad bar as you have already discovered."

"It's delicious. Being broke has not allowed me to eat as many fresh vegetables as I'm used to. I've had to stick mostly with carrots and the occasional cucumber as far as fresh vegetables go."

"Well, you can look forward to a giant salad every Sunday that you spend here with me."

"Nice side benefit."

Kurt laughed.

"Seems pretty lopsided though."

"What?"

"The side benefits."

"Nope."

"Completely even, maybe tilted in my direction."

Sam gave him a puzzled look.

"How many times have I laughed since I picked you up Friday?"

"I don't know. A lot. I wasn't counting."

"Neither was I, but do you know how many times I'd laughed in past three months?"

Sam didn't say anything.

"None that I can remember. I've laughed more in the last three days than I had in the past three months. Spending time with you is fun."

"Well, that we can agree on. I think spending time with you is fun."

"Eat, Mr. Rabbit. You have to leave for work soon," Kurt teased.

After Sam had eaten his fill of salad, they headed back up to Kurt's room so Sam could change and grab his stuff.

"We'll have to say our goodbyes up here," Kurt said. He wrapped his arms around Sam. "Call me whenever you have time. I'll see you on Friday." Kurt ended up backing Sam up against the door and kissing him until they were both breathless. Kurt kissed him gently and stepped back so that Sam could grab his coat and put it on. Kurt grabbed his bag and opened the door. Sam stepped out and took his bag. Kurt walked him out the front doors.

"I'll call you," Sam said and walked to his truck.

Kurt waved from the sidewalk as Sam drove off.

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Kurt arrived for the Sunday practice to find that Trent was the only one sitting in the practice room.

"Everyone's in the auditorium. Some of us set the risers up earlier so we could practice using them since we won't be performing on a flat floor."

"Good idea. I'll wait with you until we've sent everyone on their way."

"Thanks."

"That's actually what I wanted to do – to thank you. You've been genuinely decent to me, even after I showed you some pretty outrageous stuff in Dalton standards."

"Umm… You're welcome?"

"I just wanted you to know that I appreciate it."

"I'm not sure why you think it's such a big deal, but okay."

"Oh, well, I guess because I've been repeatedly told to stop trying to stand out and that to be successful here I needed to blend in. So, I've kept all of the parts of me that didn't fit the proper prep school boy persona hidden away."

A couple of other Warblers walked in and Trent sent them on their way to the auditorium.

"Well, I guess I can see why you would do that, but a lot of us have sides of ourselves that we keep hidden too. Mostly because we don't want it to get back to our parents somehow. We're beyond lucky that no one in the GAP that day filmed us and posted it to YouTube or sent a copy of the video to the headmaster."

"Yeah, I definitely would not have shown up if I had known the song selection. When the intro started, I couldn't believe the council had approved that song to sing when they were so hesitant about the whole thing to start with. I was expecting something G-rated."

Trent refocused the conversation. "Some of the guys here only follow the No Bullying policy because they need to graduate from this school to follow in the footsteps of their grandfather and father. But others of us are actually quite accepting. You've been eating with me and Nick and Jeff. They're not the typical legacy-type students. Their parents aren't the disinheriting type."

"Well, I'm glad for them. Living in someone's shadow seems completely miserable. I know that being here is hard on me and I get to go home every Friday and be myself. I can only imagine what it's like to not have that option."

Trent's phone pinged. He checked it. "Everyone's down there now. Let's go."

Kurt followed him out.

"Many of us have lived very controlled lives. A lot of guys here really know nothing outside the world of their father's realms, if you want to think about it that way. All I'm asking is that you consider your hard stance against the guys here judging you for who you are when you are judging them just as harshly for being who they've been raised to be."

"Wow. You're right. Thanks for standing up to me and pointing that out. I'll do better."

"Maybe some of us can too."

Kurt nodded.

They got in place and ran through their four numbers.

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They sat around Wes' laptop watching themselves.

"We look better than we did before," Nick said.

"We do," Kurt agreed. "Let's add in some of the flairs we talked about. Obviously the flips and dancing have to take place on the front part of the stage. Let's dance along with the recording we made without singing and see if we can find a good way to add them in."

They fooled around for about an hour trying different things.

"Alright, alright," Wes called them back to order. "It's 3:00. We've got to make a final decision and practice what we decide on for another hour or two and then get back to our schoolwork. We'll rehearse every day like normal, and hopefully by the end of the week, we'll look good doing our numbers. Everyone in place. We'll work until 4:30, record one last run through at that point, and then dismiss for the day."

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Kurt was sitting alone at dinner until Blaine walked up and plopped his tray down next to him.

"So, what do you think? Do we have a chance now"

"If we can get it polished by the end of the week, yes."

"We should have listened to you back last fall."

"True."

"So, is it Trent that you're dating?"

"No."

"Oh. You'd been spending a lot of time with him, so I just thought…"

"If Trent likes guys, he's never said so to me, and if you know something I don't, then keep it to yourself. You already nearly outed Karofsky and look what that got me. And you outed Jeremiah and got him fired. Don't ask me to tell you who I'm dating and don't guess either. Guessing is just a way of outing someone by naming guys you know that like guys."

"Oh."

"Yeah. I think maybe you should make some appointments to see Mr. Adams and talk to him about your problem of being oblivious to how your actions affect other people so he can help you learn to think about what you say and what you do in advance."

"I'll think about it."

"Seriously. Really think about it. Jeremiah could have brought a lawsuit against the school for what the Warblers did. My guess would that he refrained from doing so because he's not out. Filing a suit would have outed himself to everyone. He had no leg to stand on with the store itself because sexual orientation is not a protected status in Ohio. Employers can actually fire someone for being gay."

"Oh."

"You either just outed Trent to me by asking me if I was dating him or you just asked me to out him if we were dating. Everything someone tells you isn't fair game to be repeated as public knowledge. The person I'm dating may not be out. Asking me who it is could be asking me to out him."

"I hadn't thought about it that way."

"Obviously." Kurt deadpanned. "Look, I WANT to believe that you are a decent person and that none of the stuff you did was done to harm anyone intentionally. But you can't keep doing these things. You're 16, not 8 accidentally telling someone about their surprise birthday party."

"Right."

"All of us could have gotten suspended. If any of the Warblers are here on scholarship, they could have lost that and been expelled."

"Fine. I screwed up. I get it. I won't ask about your boyfriend." He stood up, picked his tray up and moved to a different table.

Kurt left his tray and got up and followed him and sat down. "Getting angry and stomping off is very childish. You did this to me once before and left me stranded at the Lima Bean. You should make an appointment with Mr. Adams. He could help you." Kurt went back to his own seat and sat down.

Ugh!

A few minutes later, Trent came in and sat down with him.

"You may want to rethink eating with me."

"Why's that?"

"Blaine came over here earlier and asked if we were dating."

Trent started to say something.

"Stop. Don't say anything. I pointed out that by asking me that, he was either outing you or asking me to out you and that the conversation wasn't happening beyond me saying that we were not dating."

"Okay."

"I am not asking you to tell me anything, nor am I making any assumptions. I told Blaine he needed to think before he talks. BUT on the off chance that you have at some point told Blaine that you like guys AND you don't want that to be common knowledge, I'd suggest talking with him in private and pointing out that you don't want the information repeated. Please don't respond. I don't want to know one way or the other. At some point in the future, if you consider me a close friend and you want to tell me personal, private information, you can rest assured that I will keep it to myself."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. I have to assume that there are as many closeted guys here as there are in other schools, probably more because of the well-published No Bullying policy. But even if we go with a low estimate of 5% of the population being gay, and there are about 400 students here, more or less, then 20 guys in this school are gay. I only know two. The other 18 have decided not to be open about it or are only open about it to a select group of close friends, which is fine. I just won't be a part of outing people ever again. I swore I never would be and then I was part of the GAP Attack. Never again."

"I get it. I didn't know we had outed him."

"Yeah, we did. He got fired over it."

"Oh, my God. That's awful."

"It is. Anyway, back to why I brought this whole topic up. I am openly gay and by sitting with me so frequently, you may inadvertently be associated with my homosexual deviance. I will not be offended if you chose to stop sitting with me alone. We can just eat lunch together with Nick and Jeff. I don't want to cause problems for you."

"That's kind of you. I'll think about it."

"That's fine. I'll still be your friend. We'll just have to make sure other people are around as well."

He nodded.

"I'm going to go ahead and go. I'm not really hungry anymore and I still have some assignments to do tonight." Kurt got up and put his tray on the conveyor.

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When Kurt got back up to his room, he got busy on what he had left to do. A couple of hours later, he had gotten all of the assignments that had to be turned in finished. He still had a bit of reading to do, but he felt better that nothing was going to be late.

He was putting his textbooks back on his shelf when he heard a piece of paper slide across the floor. He turned to look and there was a sheet of notebook paper folded in thirds on his floor near his door.

He picked it up and unfolded it. "Kurt, I thought about what you said. I'm sorry, but I can't eat breakfast with you alone anymore. Please forgive me. I'm not brave like you. Please get rid of this after you read it. I talked to Blaine. I hope he took me seriously and keeps his mouth shut. I'd still like to eat lunch with you and Nick and Jeff."

Poor Trent. He was obviously in the group of guys that might get disowned. And Blaine and his big mouth, ugh.

He took the piece of paper into his bathroom and filled his sink with an inch of water and submerged the piece of paper in the water until the ink ran and it was completely illegible. Then in frustration, he ripped it into teeny tiny pieces and dumped them in his trashcan as tears streaked down his cheeks.

He went back into the bathroom to dry his hands and his phone started to ring. He picked it up off of his desk and saw that it was Sam.

"Hey, Sam." He did his best to sound cheerful.

"Hey, come downstairs. I want to see you again before I go back to Lima."

"Are you in the lot?"

"Yeah. I'll be at the doors by the time you get downstairs." The line went silent.

Kurt wiped his face and slipped his phone and his keys in his pocket and went down to the front doors. Sam was waiting when he opened the door. Sam stepped inside and wrapped his arms around him and kissed him.

"Let's go to the visitor's room. I doubt anyone ever uses it 45 minutes before curfew."

Sam let go of him and followed him to the room. Sam closed the door behind them and leaned against it. He opened his arms for Kurt to step closer again. He nearly fell into Sam's arms.

"Hey, what's wrong? You've been crying."

"I… I shouldn't do this to you. I'm sorry." Kurt stepped back and wrapped his arms across his chest. "We shouldn't do this. I should have said 'no'."

"Kurt, what are you talking about?"

"Us. I shouldn't have said 'yes'. Being with me is just going to get your hurt. I'm so sorry."

"Come back over here, please."

Kurt shook his head. "I can't. I can't do this to you."

"Are you breaking up with me?"

"I don't know what to do, Sam."

"Please don't break up with me." Sam moved from the door and stood closer to Kurt and opened his arms. "Please tell me what's wrong."

Kurt couldn't hold himself back anymore and he stepped into Sam's embrace.

"That's better. What's gotten you so upset? You don't really want us to break up do you?"

"No, never. Not at all. I just don't want you hurt."

"You're not really making much sense."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Try to explain."

"I've been eating breakfast with one particular Warbler, who has been very nice. I thought we were becoming friends. Well, anyway, I got a note a few minutes ago telling me that he can't eat with me alone anymore. I'm assuming he can't risk it getting back to his parents somehow and him being accused of dating me and being gay."

"Oh. Isn't that the same as bullying?"

"Not exactly – if it's adults doing it. If someone here tells their father and their father says something to this Warbler's father, it's not a student bullying a student. It's adults ostracizing people and their closeted gay son. And potentially causing that closeted gay son to be questioned until he admits he's gay, and then him getting disowned."

"I figured there were lots of gay guys here because of the No Bullying policy."

"Oh, there probably are. But that doesn't mean that they're out. I would imagine a lot of students that have been bullied before they came here opt to behave as straight as possible once they're here. It's hard to keep switching high schools. You know that."

"Yeah. I played straight when I came to McKinley. I get it. There is a policy preventing them from being bullied, but they still keep it to themselves."

"I'm just trouble. Associating with me is just asking for trouble."

"Hey, now. Stop. Unless you actually have decided that you don't like me and you don't want to be my boyfriend, we aren't breaking up. Is that what's happened? You've realized that you don't actually like me?"

Kurt started crying again. Sam pulled him back toward one of the two-seaters and sat down and tried to pull Kurt into his lap. Kurt started laughing through his tears.

"I'm barely shorter than you. Sitting on your lap?"

"You're flexible. Figure it out."

"Scoot that way a little." Kurt waited for him to move over, and then he straddled his lap, basically kneeling on the seat with his butt on Sam's legs.

Sam wiped the tears from his face. "Now, tell me the truth. Your feelings about me – none of the other stuff."

"I like you a lot, which is why this is all such a mess. I don't want you hurt."

"Breaking up with me will hurt a LOT. I really like you, Kurt. Don't do this to us. You're not like anyone I've ever met. I feel comfortable with you. I trust you."

"I feel the same way."

"Then it's settled. No more of this nonsense talk. We'll figure out how to deal with stupid people somehow – together." Sam moved his hands from Kurt's waist and put them on the sides of Kurt's face and gently guided Kurt to move forward a bit and he kissed him.

Kurt wrapped his arms around Sam's shoulders and leaned into the kiss, allowing the kiss to deepen. When the broke apart for air, Kurt spoke. "We'll keep this to ourselves and just our parents knowing until the issue of your house is solved. Once it's sold or the situation is resolved, we'll talk again about letting other people know. Is that reasonable for now?"

"Yes." Sam wrapped his arms around Kurt and held him close.

Kurt pulled back a bit and kissed Sam. He ran his fingers through the back of Sam's hair. When they broke apart for air, Kurt said, "Thank you."

"For kissing you?" Sam teased. "That's my pleasure, for sure." He pecked Kurt on the lips making Kurt laugh.

"For not just giving up and taking the easy way out."

"Leaving you wouldn't be the easy way. I wasted a lot of time doing things the easy way. This – with you – feels right in a way that nothing ever has."

"You're a sweet talker. Always making me blush and feel good."

"Good. You should feel good about yourself. You're awesome, even if a bunch of prep school boys are too concerned about their image to stick around to be your friend. It's their loss. I'm not that dumb. You already said I could keep you. I'm going to hold you to that." He wrapped his arms around Kurt tight and held him close and then loosened his grip. "Don't try to set me free again like you did last fall. I don't want to be free. I want to be with you. I wanted it then and I want it even more now."

"I'm sorry."

"I forgive you. I'm not angry. It makes me sad that some people are awful. But your parents know. My parents know. The only people who really matter to me support me. We're both going to be 18 by the end of the semester. Even if we have to hold out that long not telling anyone else, I won't give up on us."

"Okay." Kurt nodded. "Okay. If you're sure."

"I'm sure, Kurt." Sam wiped the tears from his cheeks again.

"I'm sorry I'm such a mess."

"Ten years of facing this crap mostly alone would make anyone a mess. Let me be here for you. We'll face it together, okay?"

Kurt nodded. He scooted back and stood up. "You have to get going. You have a long drive home." He pulled Sam up to standing and then wrapped his arms around him. "Thank you. Call me whenever you have time. I'll see you Friday. I'm going to ask my dad about spring break. Whenever you call, I'll let you know, and then you can ask your parents, okay?"

"Yeah." Sam kissed him one last time and they walked toward the door.

{}o{}o{}o{}o{}

"Dad?"

"Yeah, kiddo."

"What are the chances of sending Finn away for spring break?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'd like to spend the whole week at home without him there."

"Why?"

"Because I want to spend time with Sam. Finn never spends any time with me other than the enforced family meal on Friday nights. He leaves after we eat and rarely comes back before I head back here. I know that he and I need to have a talk, but he needs to talk to someone else first who can help him get his head on a little straighter before I try to work things out with him. I know it sounds drastic, but maybe a week at a therapy clinic with weekly follow-up sessions."

"You're serious, aren't you?"

"I'm absolutely serious. His only goal is to stay at the top of the McKinley social ladder. That's only useful for another 14 months or so. He doesn't study. He's played football with a lousy team, even with whatever they just won. I don't think he's good enough to get recruited. Maybe I'm wrong, but it's a long shot anyway. He's with Quinn, but that will only last until Rachel snags him back. He goes wherever he gets the most attention. Once one of them has him, he loses interest and the other one works to get him back. He's not an object to be fought over."

"Well, that's true enough."

"Rachel is determined to go to New York and make it on Broadway. Finn is not a big city guy. Quinn just wants social standing for now, but I have no idea what her long-term goals are, if she has any. But I don't think they involve staying in Lima. Whichever one of them has him at graduation next year, is just going to leave him behind eventually. Rachel will try to keep it up for a while. Quinn would just cut him loose and move on once he doesn't suit her purpose anymore. This seminar I'm taking is really making me think about a lot of things and McKinley doesn't offer anything like this. No one is pointing the students at McKinley in the direction of their futures."

"Alright, alright. I get it. I'll talk to Carole. She has several days off. Maybe she can take him to her aunt's place in Zanesville for a few days and I can see what I can find to get him some help."

"I can ask the counselor here for some suggestions."

"That's fine. We could take him some place in Columbus for some jobs testing or aptitude tests or something. He does need to figure out what he wants to do. Because if it's go to college, he needs to actually start studying."

"You're not going to want to hear this, but most of the teachers at McKinley won't give him below a C because he's the popular quarterback. I've seen him try to cheat off of Brittany."

"Oh, God."

"Yeah. I'd have his general knowledge tested so you have some idea of whether he needs a tutor to actually learn what he should already know."

"And you had a crush on him."

"DAD! He was cute and nicer to me than any of the other guys. And despite my general lack of interest in sports, jocks are cute."

"I don't want to hear this."

"You started it. It was a shallow first crush, which is long, long over."

"It's Sam now."

"That's different."

"I know. I'll get Finn out of the house for spring break. Give me a day or so to come up with a working plan before you get Sam's hopes up though."

"Alright."

"Dwight, Hiram, and I are going to the bank tomorrow. Hopefully, something positive will come out of that."

"I hope so. Sam doesn't want to stay in the closet and I keep pressuring him to not come out."

"I thought you'd be thrilled that he didn't want to hide that you're dating."

"I don't want his house targeted like ours was. They're trying to get things settled so they can sell it. If it gets vandalized, that will make it harder to sell. If you get things settled with the house, then I'll feel less like a harbinger of doom for him and his family."

"His parents are fine with him seeing you, just in case you had any doubts."

"He said they were, but thanks for reinforcing it. They haven't been around long enough to know what a bad thing it is to be associated with me though."

"Why are you so down on yourself again?"

"I got dumped by the person I had come the closest to making friends with here earlier this evening. Even in a school where bullying isn't allowed by the students, there's nothing preventing those students from telling their parents that someone is gay by association and those parents saying things to the parents of the student in question and then causing that student to potentially be disowned by his parents."

"That was very convoluted. So, someone you've been spending time with is afraid that his parents will find out that he is gay because he has made friends with the openly gay student?"

"More or less. He never actually said that he was gay, but that's the impression I got from the letter he shoved under my door. He's only 16. They could send him to conversion therapy. Or disown him and make him file for emancipation."

"God, what is wrong with people?"

"That question does not have a short answer."

"I get it. Even where you're safe, you're not accepted. It sucks. I hope that advocate has a good plan on Friday. Maybe you can come back to McKinley."

"That's not all that likely, but anything is possible, I suppose. But definitely not this year. I've worked too hard to leave before the end of the term. These classes will look a lot better on my transcript than the ones at McKinley. If Karofsky and Azimio are still at McKinley, maybe I could do some type of dual enrollment. I'm going to find out about my options. Maybe I could do pre-calc, US Government, some easy elective like Spanish, and Glee at McKinley and then take 3 classes at OSU Lima. Since I was going to take AP French, AP English and AP European History here next year, which would give me college credit. Or if they're gone, I could play football again or join Cheerios, which would prevent the other football players from being able to hassle me because Coach Beiste would kick them off the team for hurting the team's chances at winning. And Coach Sue would string them up for going after a Cheerio, but that would put me back to wearing the dumb uniform every day again. I don't know. How about I just find a magic wand and make people stop being jackasses?"

"Yeah. You do that and I want to borrow it."

"Sure."

"I gotta get some sleep, kiddo. And so do you. You have class early."

"I know. Please let me know what happens at the bank, if you can. I'll see you Friday at the house. I'm not heading into the school alone to possibly confront Karofsky. I have no idea what this meeting is actually for, but I want to walk into the building with you and Carole, if she's coming."

"You got it, bud. Come home and we'll drive over at the same time or together."

"Night, Dad."

"Night, kiddo."

{}o{}o{}o{}o{}M-14{}o{}o{}o{}o{}

Monday at lunch, Kurt called Mrs. Huntington and asked her about Sam's situation with being dyslexic. She gave him a lot of information. She agreed to meet with Sam after the meeting with McKinley on Friday. He thanked her for her time and texted Sam asking him to call as soon as possible after school.

Kurt had sat alone at breakfast. And since he had plans to make the phone call at lunch, he had taken his tray outside and sat on a bench in the courtyard. It wasn't exactly warm outside yet, but it wasn't freezing anymore either. He stayed outside after he finished the call and ate alone. He looked through his agenda after he finished eating. Ten more weeks of school. He could survive.

Maybe if his dad and Hiram got the back issue worked out, Sam wouldn't have to work all weekend anymore and he could just come to Westerville and spend the weekend with Kurt every weekend. He tried to think positive thoughts. The warning bell rang for the end of lunch. He hopped up and took his tray inside, put it on the conveyor, and headed off to class.

The Warblers ran through their set four times after school, recording the last run-through to review like the had been doing. Kurt headed to the library to get the books he needed and went straight back to his room with them, hoping that Sam would get a chance to call somehow. He didn't, but he did text Kurt saying that he would call the instant he got home from work.

Kurt gathered the information he needed from the books and finished the assignments that he had to turn in the next day. He decided to take one of his textbooks with him to dinner and read it in an effort to keep anyone from attempting to sit down with him. He wasn't going to be the cause of any family problems for anyone.

After dinner, he did all of his reading and even read ahead for the next day while waiting for Sam to call. Finally, at 8:30, his phone rang.

"Hey, Sam."

"Sorry I couldn't call earlier. I ended up leaving Glee before Schue dismissed us so I wouldn't be late to work."

"It's fine, sweetie. Really. I just wanted to let you know that the advocate I got is willing to help you. Can your dad come to the school on Friday at 2:00? And he needs to bring whatever documentation you have about being dyslexic with him, copies if possible, so that the advocate can take them with her."

"Um, I'm sure he can. He'll only be able to stay like an hour though 'cause he's got to be at McDonald's at 4:00 to work and I have to get to work too."

"That's fine. I doubt a first meeting would last very long. It's just that you're not 18 yet, so one of your parents has to sign the forms."

"Alright. How will this help?"

"She says you should get time and a half for all tests, even the state ones you have to retake this summer."

"Well, that would help. I'll make sure my dad can be there. Where should he go?"

"I think we're meeting in Miss Pillsbury's office, but if it changes, I'll text you and you can tell him."

"Alright."

"I should know by tomorrow night what my dad has managed to plan for Finn to get him out of the house during spring break."

Sam laughed. "Sounds ominous."

"It might include spending time on a farm in really rural Ohio."

"I see."

"Did you talk to your dad yet? How did the bank thing go today?"

"He's not back from work yet. He gets off at 9:00. But I did talk to all of my teachers today. They agreed to the plan of letting me turn everything from the previous week in on Monday before classes start on a week-to-week basis. So, if I keep my word and bring it all completed on Monday morning, then I can do the same thing the next week without being marked down. If I miss assignments still, the deal's off."

"Well, then we'll just have to make sure not to miss any. I'll let you eat and do whatever you need to so you can talk to your dad when he gets home. Call me back later, okay?"

"'Kay."

Kurt jumped in the shower, did his moisturizing routine, and then worked on his history paper until Sam called back.

"So, I talked to my dad and he'll be at the school on Friday with the papers."

"Good."

"And he said the bank meeting was interesting. I guess they jumped the gun and did some things they shouldn't have and in the interest of not getting sued for the things they shouldn't have done, they're eliminating a large portion of the fees. So, my dad had enough to pay the back payments and the lowered fees today, which pulled the house from foreclosure. He's going to talk to a realtor tomorrow and list the house."

"I'm sorry you're going to have to move again, but I'm glad your family can recoup the down payment and sell rather than lose the house in foreclosure."

"My dad is thrilled. He's also gotten a second interview, with a company on the Kentucky side of Cincinnati for a good job."

"Oh. I mean I'm glad he's getting an interview, but does that mean you'll be moving to Kentucky?"

"Not if I can help it. Like you said, we're both turning 18 soon. I don't want to move to Kentucky. I'm going to see what I can figure out. We can talk about it this weekend after my dad's interview and after the advocate meeting."

"I won't keep you. I know we both need to go to sleep. I'm really glad the stress is off about the house. Are you going to quit delivering pizzas?"

"I don't know. I have to think about a lot of things. Even if I do, I'll give my two-weeks notice this week, so I'll still need to finish the next couple of weekends."

"Try to sleep. I'll try too."

"'Kay."

The phone went silent.

Kentucky? Ugh. No time to think about that now. Sleep.

He turned off the lights and got in his bed, but sleep eluded him. He lay in bed doing calculations and thinking about way too many things until he finally fell asleep.

{}o{}o{}o{}o{}M-16{}o{}o{}o{}o{}

"So you can't tell me why you're eating alone again?"

"Nope."

"You're going to have to do better than that. You'll have to join a club where you have to interact."

"Fine."

"What else is going on?"

"I'm meeting Mrs. Huntington at McKinley Friday along with my dad, but I really have no idea what to expect."

"I've not been to that particular type of meeting, but I would imagine that the school will be answering the claim that they were negligent and they will argue that they weren't and Mrs. Huntington will press them along with the lawyer she brings with her and they will cave and pay your tuition and fees for this year. I do however doubt that she will be successful in procuring the money for next year. They will suggest multiple other placements, like North Lima or a school in Findlay or somewhere within driving distance of your house. Or they will assure her that the student responsible for the threat won't be at McKinley anymore. His overturned expulsion will be reinstated and he'll be 'offered' the opportunity to enroll elsewhere for next school year or have the expulsion put in his permanent record, which will probably prevent him from getting any athletic scholarships."

"I see. Well, at least the money for this year will help my family since keeping me here is straining my family's budget. I didn't figure I would be able to come back next year anyway. I know my family can't afford another year here. Even with the refund for this year, it's not enough to cover all of next year. I didn't come until four weeks before the end of last semester. I'm assuming that my cost to attend the full year next year would nearly twice what we paid this year, minus the cost of the uniforms since I already have those now."

"So, what will you do?"

"I have no idea. Expelling him or 'offering' to let him leave willingly will not change the actual situation. He still lives in Lima. He still has friends at McKinley. It's just a mess."

"Life is like that sometimes. No matter how many times you rearrange your tiles, you still can't spell any winning words."

"Yep. I've had a handful of Z's and X's my whole life."

"And you had hoped that coming here would be a redeal that included some vowels and instead you have an entire row of A' and I's."

"You got it."

"I get the impression that you've made up your mind about next school year and that you're not returning to Dalton."

"I'm not. And I agree with you that no matter what happens on Friday that my school district won't pay for me to attend Dalton next year. The academics here are fantastic. It's a really amazing school and I've learned a lot, but I'm going to pursue the dual-credit program at OSU Lima. Could you help me with that?"

"Sure. I'll send in the school's part of the paperwork later this afternoon. You'll need two recommendations." He opened a drawer and pulled out a small packet. "You'll need to read through these guidelines and follow the procedures."

"Thank you. I can do that."

"I'll let you leave early so you can get started on the application process and I'll do my part, but you have to find something to join before spring break and stop by and let me know what it is."

Kurt stood up and walked to the door. "Yes, Mr. Adams."

{}o{}o{}o{}o{}

At dinner he sat alone. Trent, Nick, and Jeff found him and put their trays down and sat with him.

"Stop avoiding us," Jeff said.

"I don't want anyone to be 'gay by proxy'."

"Let us deal with that. My parents and Nick's don't have spies at the school. Plus, our parents don't care. Blaine said you have a boyfriend. Trent can just tell his family that he's being nice because he's supposed to if someone tells his family that he's hanging around with the gay kid. The gay kid who already has a boyfriend…"

"Fine. I guess I'll have yet one more talk with Blaine about what the word 'gossip' means. Yes, I have a boyfriend, but Blaine was the only one who knew."

"You don't even talk to him anymore, so how did he find out?" Nick asked.

"After he decided I should be his duet partner last week. He asked me out after that and I turned him down because I already have a boyfriend."

"I see," Nick said.

"Then he asked me if Trent was my boyfriend because Trent and I had been eating breakfast together just the two of us. I told him that I wasn't going to answer him – that who I was dating was my business. So, maybe he's just trying to get someone to confess to being my boyfriend by mentioning it to people. But my boyfriend isn't out. He wouldn't answer 'yes' and I won't say who he is. I don't tell people's private information to other people."

"We get it. We won't ask. It doesn't matter to us whether you have a boyfriend or not as far as wanting to be your friends," Jeff said.

"Alright. I was just trying to protect you."

"We get that," Nick said. "But we don't need protected. We do actually like you. You can't bail on us that easily."

"Thanks."

{}o{}o{}o{}o{}M-17{}o{}o{}o{}o{}

The next day right before the school day started, Kurt went back to see the counselor.

"Mr. Adams, I respectfully request that you refrain from forcing me to join another club. I have looked through the entire list. I can't join anything that meets on the weekends or Friday after school. I have Warbler's rehearsal directly after last period four days a week. I'm tutoring four students. Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, I tutor right after Warblers' rehearsal. Wednesday, I start a half-hour later because I come here to see you. I am taking six classes, which, means I'm occupied 35 hours a week for that. I am in a club that meets four hours a week, a second club that meets one hour a week and I work anywhere from 8-12 hours a week and drive three hours to get home and back each weekend. I have like 20 hours of homework a week. Adding in mealtimes and I'm booked nearly 80 hours a week. I'm busy enough. Joining a third club will not increase my chances of making friends with anyone."

Kurt paused and took a deep breath.

"I'm eating with Trent, Nick and Jeff again. They approached me last night after I had been sitting by myself again."

"Why did you quit eating with them?"

"Is what I say to you absolutely confidential?"

"Yes, unless someone is at risk of being hurt or you're at risk for hurting yourself."

"Fine. After Blaine pointedly asked me if Trent was my boyfriend, thereby effectively outing Trent to me, Trent quit eating with me by ourselves because he was afraid it would get back to his father that he had befriended the gay kid and that his father would accuse him of being gay by association. You know, 'birds of a feather, flock together' kind of thing. I can't quit being gay. I can't make the students' fathers stop being homophobic. I quit sitting with him because he said he couldn't risk it. After that, I just went back to eating alone to prevent the same thing from happening to anyone else."

"Wow. I didn't really expect that answer. I'll stop pushing you."

"Thank you. Some people here do not want to be friends with me. While you can say that ignoring someone is a form of bullying, there is no crime to punish. You can't punish anyone here for ignoring me."

"I get that. But Nick and Jeff aren't bothered by the fact that you're gay?"

"There are probably plenty of students who avoid me who aren't bothered by it personally, but whose families would react like Trent's. But Nick and Jeff said that their families wouldn't care. And they pointed out that now that I had a boyfriend, it would be fine for Trent to spend time with me because he could just tell his father that I have a boyfriend. Of course, Blaine was the one to share the fact that I have a boyfriend with people."

"I see."

"I'm in this close to reporting him for bullying or whatever is one step below that just so that he has to come to talk to you. He has outed or potentially outed three people now. He could get someone killed."

"Maybe I'll just invite him for a chat to see how he's doing."

"Whatever you think would help. I've tried stepping back and working toward rebuilding a friendship with him, but I just can't. But I am not eating alone, so are we good? No third club requirement?"

"You're fine. I didn't realize all of the complications to what I had asked you to do."

"Thank you. I'll see you the Wednesday after spring break. I have to go to class." Kurt left the office.

{}o{}o{}o{}o{}

"Order!" Wes bellowed as he banged the gavel on the desk. "Quiet. We'll head the auditorium to practice as soon as we cover a few details. Saturday morning, we will hold a one-hour rehearsal from 10-11 before we board the bus to go to the competition. Everyone will wear their full uniform, no exceptions. We will arrive at the venue at 11:30 and will be given 20 minutes to rehearse on the stage. The competition starts at 1:00. The school is sending sack lunches for us to eat."

David spoke, "Everyone head to the auditorium."

Kurt hung back in an attempt to speak to Wes. Wes noticed and stayed at the desk. "Yes, Kurt?"

"I told you that I couldn't be here on Friday because I have to go to Lima. Scheduling a rehearsal before the competition will mean that I have to leave Lima at 8:00 in the morning and drive back here to practice an hour just to turn around and ride 30 minutes back towards Lima. I'm supposed to work four hours Saturday morning. I was going to go in at 6:30 so I could leave at 10:30 to arrive on time at the competition venue."

"I'm sorry Kurt, but we need the extra rehearsal time since I would have normally added the extra rehearsal tomorrow after school."

"I guess I thought the people at this school understood what commitment and family obligations mean. Now, my dad will be shorthanded Saturday morning and fall behind and make his customers angry because I have to attend a last-minute rehearsal. If you had told me a few days ago, maybe he could have gotten someone to cover my shift, but it's unlikely since it's the first Saturday of spring break and lots of people asked off." Kurt practically stormed off and headed to the auditorium. He put on his performance face and moved through every number as flawlessly as he could. The instant they finished, he left.

{}o{}o{}o{}o{}

"Dad, I'm really sorry."

"Sorry doesn't get the work done, Kurt."

"I know. He just told us a little over an hour ago. There's nothing I can do."

"The meeting's been moved to the superintendent's office."

"I need the address, Dad. Text it to me as soon as we hang up. I'll be at the house at noon." Kurt ended the call. He waited for the address and then texted it to Sam informing him of the new location.

What a mess! I have to pack as soon as this tutoring session is over.

Once he was in his room after the tutoring session, he packed everything he thought he'd need over spring break. He put it in the Navigator before he went to dinner. He still had to attend his first two periods the next day and turn in all of his work for the whole day before he left. He didn't want to have to make a trip to his room too. He'd just go to the meeting in his uniform if he had to.

He ate dinner with Nick and Jeff, returned to his room, and completed all of his assignments. He looked around and didn't find anything he had forgotten. He got ready for bed and waited for Sam to call before he went to sleep.

{}o{}o{}o{}o{}M-18{}o{}o{}o{}o{}

He managed to get his tutoring vouchers turned in, his assignments turned in, and out of the school parking lot by 10:15. He drove straight home, carried his belongings up to his room, changed clothes, and then headed right back down the stairs to get back in the Navigator and followed Burt to the school district's main building.

The meeting was unusual. Mr. Karofsky and David were present. Mrs. Huntington and a lawyer, Mr. Stewardson, were there. The superintendent was there and a few school board members, as well as Coach Sylvester, Coach Beiste, Miss Pillsbury, and Principal Figgins.

Mr. Stewardson presented the school with the case, which they summarily rejected without consideration. But with quite a bit of legalese from both Mrs. Huntington and Mr. Stewardson, those who were opposed stopped objecting. An hour later, David was given the opportunity to voluntarily withdraw his attendance from McKinley for the upcoming school year or face the disciplinary action that he was due and accept his expulsion.

Once the portion that included the Karofskys ended, they were escorted out of the room. Mrs. Huntington asked the school board and Principal Figgins their plan for putting an end to the bullying at McKinley, but got no reasonable response.

"My client will not be returning to the school without a written plan in place that provides for his safety along with the safety of the other previously targeted students. This is currently a single case, but should you decide to not provide an adequate plan in the next two weeks, I will seek out the other students who have been on the receiving end of the endless bullying that goes on in your school. We will file a group suit with every student that has been physically bullied. You're looking at being faced with paying the out-of-district placement fees for upwards of 40 students. Consider that when you think about not complying with our request for a written plan outlining how McKinley will be the safe zone that schools in Ohio should be."

The superintendent spoke up. "The district cannot cover the out-of-district placements for that many students."

"Then find a way to keep your students safe in the school they're in," she replied. "And have it ready to present in two weeks time or I will move forward with speaking to the students and families that could be eligible for out-of-district placements. This will not continue. My client has bruises that haven't healed and he has been out of your school for four months. Enough is enough. You have two weeks." She began packing her papers back in folders and into her briefcase.

"Kurt, can I speak to you for a moment?" Coach Sue asked as most of the people left the room.

"Sure." He followed her to the corner of the room where she spoke very quietly. "I like the attack dog. Good for you. I told those bozos that they were breaking the law, but I didn't have the leverage to force their hands. Good job. Think about rejoining the Cheerios in the fall. You and Santana would make great co-captains." Sue turned and walked out of the room, not giving him time to answer.

He walked back over to Mrs. Huntington. "We're meeting Sam and Mr. Evans in 20 minutes. Should they come to this room?"

"No. I've asked for a small conference room. It's room 4. I already let Mr. Evans know."

"Thanks. And thank you for what you just did. I guess we'll see what they come up with in two weeks."

"We will. Even if they come up with a foolproof plan, there will be an addendum that says that if at any point your safety is compromised, they will pay for an out-of-district placement. One toe across the line and you will be moved."

"I'm not sure that's what I want because I want everyone else to be safe too. I guess we'll just see what they offer. I don't want to stay at Dalton, but I don't want a secret service detail at McKinley either. I want safety, not protection."

"That's my goal. Let's move down to the other room. You will be free to stay if Sam and his father agree. Let me say goodbye to your father, and then I'll meet you in room 4."

Kurt nodded and headed out of the room.