A.N. This chapter is from Kurt's perspective from the beginning of the completed story Junior Year through the Dance Chapter 20. This one is for LizzayMartini, who specifically wanted to see Kurt's perspective for the Valentine's Dance.

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or anything familiar. And there's a line some might recognize as something I said to fresch on Twitter ;)

Kurt Hummel was having an interesting junior year. It all started over the summer, really, when he and Rachel Berry had both gone to show choir camp. They hadn't gone together, they just happened to both take singing seriously. But during that summer, not only had he managed the first unthinkable act of befriending Rachel Berry for real, he actually had grown to like her. Really.

It started because the two of them didn't know anyone else at the camp, so they automatically gravitated toward each other. During their free time, Kurt would give her fashion advice and they'd shop in the stores they knew were frequented by college students on the OSU campus where the camp was held. Rachel had money to spend and each time she bought an outfit Kurt advised her to get, she'd pick up a little something for him too. New sunglasses, a fabulous fedora he couldn't wait until fall to wear, things like that. She wasn't buying his friendship, but maybe that helped Kurt's heart warm to the girl. Getting new items for his wardrobe is always enjoyable and that joy may have become associated with spending time with Rachel.

It turned out that once he was around other show choir kids who were all obsessed with music, Rachel Berry's brand of crazy seemed endearing. Because some of the others were CRAZY. And somehow the two of them had been singled out as among the most talented in their camp group—and in show choir camp that meant they were popular. While Kurt had a taste of popularity at McKinley High, he knew Rachel had never had the experience. It was kind of an interesting social experiment to observe her in that new environment, away from all of the things that had stood in the way of Kurt actually seeing Rachel as a friend instead of a frenemy.

One of those things being Finn Hudson.

Kurt couldn't help feeling some jealousy towards Rachel throughout sophomore year. Not only was she the girl his crush Finn wanted to pursue, she was also the natural talent who made sense singing solos for competitions—at least in Mr. Schue's eyes. So she was his rival in many ways. But Kurt had managed to get his voice heard in glee club—and somehow Rachel took a backseat on occasion. Kurt started to feel some jealousy toward Finn as well—especially the way things seemed so easy for Finn even when they were hard. It's kinda difficult to like someone as a boyfriend when you're jealous of him.

Oh, and there's the fact that Finn's not gay. Details.

But Kurt had also managed the second unimaginable act: developing a crush that had actually been reciprocated. He met Alex at camp, and at first he'd been concerned that Alex was interested in Rachel because of the way Alex latched on to the two of them and asked to practice together, go out for coffee, basically spending most of their free moments together. But to Kurt's surprise, the dark-haired beautiful boy was interested in him! They kept in touch online after the camp ended. It was really romantic—the most romance Kurt had ever known. And while he had grown to like Rachel over the summer, he still felt like he wasn't ready to share everything with her. So he kept that gem to himself. But on the first day of school she noticed his new physique—he had started working out to impress Alex—so he told her the truth. It was so liberating to have someone to talk to about his crush. When he'd been crushing on Finn, Rachel was the last person he would have talked to about it. So he wasn't expecting that it would be so fun to talk to her about any crush. But it really was. Who knew Rachel Berry could actually listen to someone?

And for awhile, Kurt had been so wrapped up in his new near-boyfriend (who lived hours away so they never saw each other now that camp was over) and getting back in with Mercedes and his other girls, that he missed some of the signs that Rachel had a crush of her own that she was hiding.

But he started clueing in on a few interesting occurrences.

First, he was glad that Rachel was mostly incorporating her new outfits into her school wardrobe, and Kurt noticed that other people noticed the change. Although Rachel herself didn't seem to recognize that she turned a few more heads. Kurt actually felt good for helping her, even if she didn't realize it. She was like his pet project. That's probably not the best way to think of a friend, but when it came to Rachel, thinking of her as a friend was very new, and Kurt found it easy to slip in and out of friend mode once back at school.

So Kurt wasn't paying keen attention to Rachel those first few weeks of school. He thought it was strange that she wanted to give up singing solos with Finn to form an all-girls singing group with Quinn. (WTF?) He also noticed that she wasn't excited about Mr. Schue's announcement of the new members of New Directions, and she seemed strangely bothered by the attention Matt and Puck were giving the new girls. Kurt huffed internally, thinking that Rachel always wanted to be the center of attention. Plus she'd always had some weird thing with Finn and Puck, so maybe she was somehow jealous that Puck was looking at the new girls. Kurt had to admit that the ladies were both quite attractive. He was an equal-opportunity connoisseur of beauty. He had grown to appreciate Rachel's brand of beauty too—even if she wasn't classically beautiful. He thought he'd helped her appreciate that about herself too over the summer, but looking back, maybe all he had done was judge her harshly for her old wardrobe rather than compliment her natural beauty.

Unfortunately for Rachel, Kurt never got around to making sure her self-esteem was at a healthy level. He had many commitments and Rachel seemed fine—also quite busy herself. In fact, she was surprisingly absent instead of clinging to him like he half-expected she would after the summer.

During the second week of school, Kurt noticed how uncomfortable Finn was singing duets with Quinn—assigned by the clueless Mr. Schue. He also noticed how decidedly comfortable Puck and Rachel were singing their duet from "Times Like These". And Finn always had a way of tugging at Kurt's heartstrings, so he thought quickly of a way to divert attention from Finn's discomfort. Kurt honed in on the other unusual pairing: Puck and Rachel.

"My, my! Either Puck suddenly became an actor to rival your talent, Rachel, or there's something going on here." Everyone turned to face Puck and Rachel, and they too noticed the wide smiles that had suddenly vanished from the faces of the accused.

"Are you questioning my performance ability?" Puck asked.

"Yes!" was the answer from all of the original glee members, excluding Rachel.

"Ok, say there was something going on; with this great acting ability I have wouldn't I be hiding it? It's not Finn you're talking to here. It's Puck. I don't make googley eyes at Rachel in front of everyone unless there's a reason."

"Hey!" interjected Rachel and Finn nearly simultaneously. "We only made so-called googley eyes for the sake of performance too!" said Rachel indignantly.

"Whatever, Berry," Puck smirked.

Rachel huffed to her seat and turned back to glare at him. But Kurt saw Puck give her a wink. And moments later, he witnessed Rachel blush.

Finn desperately asked, "Mr. Schue, are we done for the day?"

"Yes, Finn," Mr. Schuester nodded and waved his hand to confirm that everyone was dismissed. "Nice job, everyone. We will work on this next time."

Kurt was pleased at first that he had diverted the attention from Finn and Quinn, but he was displeased that Puck had managed to turn the focus back to Finn, albeit in a different form. Kurt almost wished he had kept his mouth shut since the end result still seemed to hurt Finn.

Kurt was (mostly) over his crush on Finn. But he still thought of Finn as a friend who might need some advice or help every now and then, especially in the aftermath of Baby-gate. And now, Kurt was very curious about what was going on with Puck and Rachel. He had only brought attention to them because there was something unusual about how they were looking at each other, but he didn't think it really meant anything. Now, there might be a piece of gossip buried somewhere, but Kurt decided that he would keep tabs on this situation rather than launch a full-fledged investigation. He thought he could easily just ask her if she wanted to chat sometime, just the two of them. He knew she wouldn't be comfortable saying much around too many people—if there really was something to tell. But whenever he asked, she said she had plans after school. Kurt wasn't sure if she'd always been this way since he'd never made an effort to spend time with her after school before. So he fell back into the habit of never asking her to do anything.

He also decided that he would let his gossip radar pick up any new interesting details in the future. Then he basically forgot about the whole thing until November, when he witnessed another odd encounter that spent a few moments in his mind before he filed it away.

Kurt had entered the choir room to find Puck leering at Rachel like she was a tasty morsel and Rachel snapping her fingers in his face with a fire in eyes. She looked on the war-path. He looked on the prowl. Funny, he thought Puck already dipped his pen in that well and had moved on the way he normally does. Then again, Puck was probably an equal-opportunity pussy hound.

Kurt's face soured at the vulgarity of his own thought.

That's when Rachel exclaimed, "Noah Puckerman! Are you even listening to me?"

Kurt wasn't intrigued by Rachel's words, but more so by the looks the two were giving each other. "And just what are we interrupting here?" Kurt said with a wide smile—because this could be a glimpse of some delicious gossip. Kurt lightly elbowed Mercedes, who was standing next to him. She raised her eyebrows at the sight. Artie and Tina were on their way in too.

Puck didn't say anything. He took a step back from Rachel, and then he just turned away and slouched into a seat in the back row. Kurt looked at Rachel expectantly for a response.

And she began, "I am sorry that we got so caught up in our argument. It's very unbecoming and unprofessional, and I very much regret it."

"I asked what we interrupted," Kurt said pointedly.

Rachel shifted uncomfortably, and then responded in that proper voice she used all the time with him before they had become friends. "As you can see, Puck and I had been having a heated argument." Then Rachel spoke slowly, like she was explaining something obvious, "An argument is what you interrupted, Kurt."

Kurt gave her a look to show he was not satisfied with her answer. "An argument about…?"

"Really, I think the reasons all started at the beginning of the school year…" Rachel's voice started to trail off.

That's when Puck said, "Oh, shut up, Berry. Kurt, mind your own business. Don't make a big deal out of nothing. The resident diva was just having one of her usual tantrums."

Everyone who had been observing this exchange nodded knowingly, except for Rachel, who looked at Puck indignantly. He smirked back at her. Mr. Schuester arrived to start rehearsals, and for the rest of the day, Kurt didn't think twice about the odd encounter between Puck and Rachel.

It wasn't until after a second strange occurrence in November that Kurt launched his investigation. The glee club was at Rachel's house after Thanksgiving for her little social endeavor. Finn and Rachel were all smiles at each other, so it seemed that everything was normal (even though normal was rather ick). No, Kurt reminded himself that he had Alex, even though it was long distance. He didn't have to be jealous of Finn's arm guiding Rachel. He didn't. He wasn't.

Gradually, the guests started filtering out, and only Finn and Kurt were left with Rachel and her dads watching Rent. Kurt was kind of hoping to get to talk to Rachel alone since strangely enough, he actually missed the friendship they'd had over the summer a little. A little.

He was startled to hear a knock on Rachel's door, followed by the door opening before anyone got up to answer it.

First, Kurt thought about how rude that was. Then he wondered why the person didn't use the doorbell. Then, he was shocked by Rachel's overly enthusiastic reaction to Puck walking through that door.

"You're back!" Rachel jumped up to greet him, but stopped short. Kurt's jaw dropped. She looked like she was about to kiss him!

Puck scanned the room uncomfortably. "Uh, yeah. Glad to see some of the gang's still here." He nodded to acknowledge Kurt and Finn. But Kurt would say he didn't actually look happy to see them there. "Uh, I was wondering if you had any more of that great food left, Berry."

"Yes, of course, follow me." Rachel chirped.

Finn and Kurt glanced curiously towards the kitchen. As Finn turned back to the movie, he caught Kurt's interested look in the direction of the kitchen too. They shared a silent look that said, "something weird might be going on here".

Rachel returned and set up a tv tray in front of a chair for Puck and turned on a table lamp. Puck wasted no time shoveling food into his mouth, which Kurt found slightly appalling. And slightly fascinating.

Rachel casually sat down in the chair next to Puck rather than returning to her seat between Finn and Kurt.

Interesting.

Finn glanced her way, but Kurt spoke up, eager to see how Rachel would react to his request. "Rachel, come back to your seat with me. Your shoulder makes a good headrest."

"Um, thanks? Sure, Kurt, I'll sit with you."

Finn didn't move to make more room for Rachel on the couch, so she was squished between Finn and Kurt. There was no way she could sit without touching them both. She blushed so fiercely that he could feel the heat rolling off of her.

Kurt figured out that Rachel wanted to sit next to Puck instead of Finn, though he wasn't sure why since Finn was supposed to be her dream guy. Kurt glanced at Finn, who looked too happy—meaning he hadn't come to the same realization that Kurt had about Rachel.

They all sat watching the final scenes of the movie.

Once Kurt thought about it, he realized that Rachel hadn't really been fawning over Finn all day. Except for that lame re-entrance to the dining room arm-in-arm, Kurt couldn't recall Rachel paying extra attention to Finn. If anything, Finn had been fawning over her. Kurt involuntarily rolled his eyes at his own recollections. But Rachel hadn't paid much attention to Puck when he was there earlier in the day. Kurt wasn't sure if Rachel liked Puck or if she was just uncomfortable around Finn in front of Puck for some reason.

The moment the credits started to roll, Rachel popped up from her spot between the two boys. "Well, now that the movie is over, we should probably call it a night!" said Rachel brightly. Kurt stood up, but Finn just grabbed a throw pillow and seemed to make himself more comfortable on the couch. Kurt suppressed an unseemly chuckle at the sight.

"Well, Puck's still eating, so I figured we'd just stay until he's finished," announced Finn. "If that's ok…" he added.

Puck looked up from his plate of food with interest. There was a pause as Rachel glanced toward Puck, then to her dads, and then back to Finn.

"We'll kick Noah out after he finishes eating our food," said Mr. Berry.

Puck actually reddened a little in embarrassment, which was something Kurt was not used to seeing. He almost giggled. But instead, he straightened his posture and said, "Of course. Thank you for your hospitality." He nudged Finn.

"…Yeah, thanks a lot," said Finn. "Goodnight, Rachel."

"Goodnight, Finn, Kurt. It was lovely to have you over. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I'll see you Monday." And with that, Rachel closed the door.

Since he had been (politely) kicked out, Kurt immediately headed toward his car, leaving Finn gawking at the Berrys' front door.

"Kurt, wait up!" Finn called as he jogged across the street to where Kurt was getting into his Navigator.

"Yes, Finn?" Kurt turned.

"You had a look on your face earlier…like you knew something…Do you think there's something going on with Rachel?"

Kurt quickly decided that he's not ready to spill this dish to Finn until he has confirmation. He knew that the knowledge of suspicious activity between Puck and Rachel would probably cause Finn to break down a little, and as much as he had always wanted Finn to cry into his shoulder pads, he didn't want to hurt him over nothing. He had to accumulate more evidence against Puck and Rachel.

He looks so innocent and naïve, thought Kurt, but he is surprisingly perceptive, so he wanted to be as honest as he could. "Yes, I too sense that there may be something going on with Rachel. But I'm going to investigate further before I jump to conclusions. Rest assured, when I figure out what's going on with our little Miss Berry, you will be the first to know."

"Thanks, Kurt."

"Any time, Finn."

Kurt reminded himself that this just meant that Finn still liked Rachel. It did not mean that Finn was interested in him. Besides, he had Alex. And Alex was so handsome—and gay! The only problem with Alex was that he wasn't in Lima. So Kurt steered his mind away from the fluttering feeling he had in his stomach when Finn talked to him like that. He focused on his plan to investigate Rachel and Puck.

Once back at school from Thanksgiving break, Kurt was on track to break the case. From his vantage point singing backup during the duets, Kurt could detect the sparks between Rachel and Puck. While Rachel was her usual sappy self when singing with Finn, she seemed positively drawn to Puck. Sure, there was a strange dynamic in the whole glee club after Baby-gate, but it seemed clear that Rachel was no longer crushing on the oh-so-crushworthy Finn. Might she have a thing for the broody and brawny Puck? Kurt hadn't forgotten his pledge to Finn to check out the situation, but he had gotten distracted over the weekend. His crush from show choir camp was becoming more than a crush since there was actual correspondence involved, so he'd spent the weekend chatting online with the boy he hoped would be his first boyfriend. Besides, it was the first day back to school, so it was really Kurt's first opportunity to check out the Rachel-Puck vibes.

And boy, were there vibes! Kurt decided he would go all Veronica Mars and investigate further before reporting his suspicions to Mercedes and Tina and deciding what to tell Finn. He had told Finn that he would be the first to know if there was something going on with Rachel. But upon reflection, Kurt couldn't decide if Finn finding out that Rachel liked Puck would result in a miniature disaster or a minor catastrophe.

Moving forward with his plan, Kurt was in full investigation mode and well prepared. Veronica Mars marathon, check. Spy pen with mini camera inspired by said marathon, check. Fabulous fedora hat and trench coat to put him in the detective mood, check and check. Kurt was already known for daring fashion choices, and it was winter, so his attire didn't raise many eyebrows. Step 1 on Kurt's list was to talk to Rachel directly. It was the easiest place to start. She might actually tell him something since they were pretty good friends. And if she was evasive, he'd pick up on that too. No matter what happened, he'd gain information.

It was strange, Kurt only just realized that Rachel hadn't been as clingy as he thought she would be after show choir camp. They had been practically connected at the hip over the summer. Kurt had other friends at school, but he knew Rachel didn't have many (any). He wondered why he didn't notice before that she seemed to have a completely full schedule and never even tried to invite herself to hang out with him and the gang. Kurt felt a little guilty for not noticing and not inviting her. He figured that it was so similar to her behavior at school last year that he had overlooked it. But one thing he had noticed that was different from last year was that Rachel didn't seem to hang all over Finn anymore. A realization dawned on Kurt. Kurt had been slowly moving on from his crush on Finn so that now he mostly felt a sense of friendship. He wanted to focus on an attainable goal (Alex from show choir camp). Perhaps that's exactly what is going on with Rachel! So Kurt decided that after he completed Step 1, Step 2 would be to investigate whether Noah Puckerman was an "attainable goal" for Rachel Berry.

Rachel was evasive when Kurt cornered her after glee rehearsal. Definitely suspicious. But his spying (no, investigating) outside her house was inconclusive. Puck did show up, but Kurt couldn't see any romantic action in the dark from his vantage point. Still, all signs pointed to the idea that Rachel might consider Noah Puckerman attainable.

But after his stake-out, he had the opportunity to assess Puck's feelings on the subject, and the results were unexpected.

Kurt caught up with Puck in the hallway the next day and tapped on his shoulder. Puck whirled around to face him. "What?" he said sharply, almost shouting.

"Whoa, cool your jets, Puck!" said Kurt. "Where are you stalking off to with such purpose?"

"Mind your own business."

"On your way to ask Miss Berry to the dance?" There, Kurt had posed a question for Step 2. He needed to detect if Puck could possibly have romantic feelings for Rachel.

"Hell no. In fact, I'm on my way to ask Quinn." Puck rushed off, leaving Kurt gaping after him. How could Kurt have been so wrong? Puck just seemed furious at the idea that he would ask Rachel out—which is actually what Kurt would have expected had he not seen Puck at Rachel's house last night. That was the only piece of the puzzle that didn't fit. Kurt reviewed his observations mentally. Rachel and Puck had major vibes during their duets lately. Rachel seemed inordinately happy to see Puck at her glee party and overly determined to kick Kurt and Finn out of her house. Finn! These all support the theory that Rachel may like Puck instead of Finn. But Puck's behavior just now did not support the theory that he liked Rachel in return.

Kurt decided to tell Finn that he had nothing to worry about. If Puck didn't have a thing for Rachel, then it didn't matter. Finn wouldn't have a competitor (because it was still Rachel Berry he's talking about here). So Finn could try to woo her to his heart's content, and he'd probably be victorious once Rachel came to her senses. Kurt was pleased with himself for his deductive skills.

So Kurt didn't continue his investigation after that. He just got himself in the mood to enjoy the Winter Dance. He had to select the perfect attire for the occasion.

Kurt and Mercedes walked into the dance arm in arm, followed closely by Tina and Artie. Even though he'd rather have come with Alex for romantic purposes, Kurt was a little nervous about such a big move in Lima. Maybe for Prom… But Mercedes was his girl for gossip, and Kurt couldn't keep from spilling everything about his investigations of Puck and Rachel, beginning with the day after Thanksgiving and finishing with his evening getting ready for the dance at Rachel's. It seemed fair to talk about it now since he'd already given Finn his assessment. He'd promised Finn would be the first to know, not the only to know. And now there might be more to assess at the dance, so the gleeks could entertain themselves while making speculations, assumptions, and bets on the truth of the situation.

"Who's in for it's one-sided from Rachel and Puck's not interested?"

"Who's in for two-sided? And let's raise the stakes—who thinks they're having sex?"

Of course, they never actually bet on the sex part because Tina protested that it was wrong and Artie suggested (in his practical way) that it would be hard to prove one way or the other. But at least the fact that it was two-side was confirmed that night at the Winter Dance.

Like it or not, Kurt became invested in Rachel's relationship with Puck. And truth be told, he liked it. First, it was fun to have a little drama and romance in his life, even if it was vicarious. Second, Rachel was his friend to some extent, so he felt a strange feeling, like he should want the best for her or something. And it didn't hurt that Noah Puckerman was easy on the eyes.

They were way too disgustingly cute together in glee on a regular basis once their relationship was 'outed' after the Winter Dance. And when Puck stayed with Rachel at Kurt's on New Year's Eve night—after he and Rachel did the deed for the first time, well, it was vomit-inducing but it was also super-heartwarming. It gave Puck a lot of points in Kurt's eyes.

So when Puck and Rachel had their fight, Kurt was the first to try to help them get back together—even trying to persuade Rachel that Finn might not have her best interests at heart when he suggested that she try to just be friends with Puck instead of something more. He gave her a fabulous pitch and eventually won her over with his compelling arguments—like the one comparing Puck and Rachel to Logan and Veronica with their epic relationship. He didn't have a character for which to compare Finn with that metaphor…though maybe Finn could be like Piz, but that didn't quite work….

It didn't matter. The point was, Kurt helped Rachel and Puck get back together before the Valentine's Dance.

And then, Rachel was the first person Kurt called when he found out that Alex was moving to Lima and would be attending McKinley. If this had happened last year, it would have been Mercedes he speed-dialed. But something compelled Kurt to call Rachel first. Maybe it was because she had two gay dads, so she was one of the only other people he knew who would have some idea about what he was going through. Maybe it was because Rachel was really smart and unexpectedly good at listening. Whatever it was, Kurt felt better after talking to Rachel about his fears and excitement about Alex. It felt really nice to get her calm advice, to hear her encourage him, and share in his good fortune. Surprising, perhaps. But nice.

When Rachel tearfully told him about the heinous dinner from hell that she and Puck experienced with her dads and how Valentine's Day was ruined, Kurt was fairly shocked. He suppressed the urge to laugh at the thought of Puck swearing at the Fathers Berry when asked if the two were sexually active. And he couldn't help but let out a mortified gasp when Rachel told him how she had responded in the affirmative to the question and then how in bragging about how wonderful her man was, she let it spill that he was the father of Quinn's baby. Which she described as so upsetting, it caused everyone at the table to drop their forks. It sounded like it had been the most hilarious and horrendous dinner on Earth. Kurt knew Rachel was a drama queen, but then Puck confirmed that everything she had described was spot on.

Her dads had agreed to let her participate in the Valentine's Dance after Rachel brought home a note from Mr. Schuester explaining the glee club's involvement with set up and running the dance as a club fundraiser. From what Kurt knew about the Fathers Berry, he wasn't surprised when Rachel gave Mr. Schue a cell phone number in order to contact her dads directly.

So Rachel was still allowed to attend, but she just thought it would be better if her scandalous date did not pick her up at her house. Of course, Kurt offered his home to be the site where Puck could pick up Rachel for the dance so that he didn't have to encounter the patriarchs any time soon.

The whole thing was very innocent, honestly. But Saturday afternoon when all of the glee clubbers were at school to decorate the gym for the dance, Kurt learned that Rachel had an evil plan. It was rather ingenious, really. And Kurt was proud to be asked to help.

But first there were preparations—not just of the gym, who cares about that? (Besides Rachel and Miss Pillsbury.) Preparations with attire, hair, and makeup (for the girls) were on Kurt's mind. It was his first school dance with a real date. Alex was going to pick him up and whisk him away in a few short hours. There was a lot to do!

He helped Rachel get ready in her well-chosen short red satin dress and high heels by picking the best shade of red lipstick and setting her hair in rollers. She helped him breathe more easily about his impending date. They were just going over the plan one more time when they heard the doorbell ring. They looked at each other with excitement in their eyes.

"It's going to be one of them. Mine or yours," Kurt breathed. "Show time!"

As they walked up the stairs from Kurt's basement bedroom, they heard Kurt's dad answer the door.

"You're not Alex."

"No, sir," Puck said.

"You're in the glee club too. You must be here for Rachel."

"Yes, sir."

Mr. Hummel stepped aside to let Puck in the doorway.

Kurt (lightly) pushed Rachel to make her entrance into the living room.

"Lookin' good, Berry," Puck choked out. Kurt rolled his eyes at the remark from his spot behind Rachel.

"Thank you, Noah," she said demurely. "You look quite dashing."

That seemed to jar Puck from his stupor. He kissed her on the cheek and he whispered in her ear (loud enough for Kurt to hear), "Seriously, you look beautiful, Rachel." She looked up and smiled at him so brightly, even Kurt thought she looked breath-taking.

"Here," he held out the wrist corsage with a small red rose with purple baby's breath accents.

"It's perfect!" she chirped.

"Of course it is; you picked it," he smirked.

"That's true," she agreed. "I'm just so pleased. We're going to make the best of this night." Then she turned away from Puck briefly. "We'll see you there, Kurt! Thanks Mr. Hummel!" called Rachel, as they headed out to Puck's truck. Kurt waved. Then he paced the room as he waited for Alex to arrive. (No way was he risking wrinkles in his suit by sitting.)

He heard his dad clear his throat. "So, Kurt, you and Alex…are um…dating now?"

Kurt stopped pacing to face his dad. "Yes, Dad, we are. Alex is my boyfriend. I hope you're ok with that."

His Dad looked uncomfortable for one fleeting moment before he exhaled a deep breath. "It still takes a little getting used to…but I support you, Kurt. I support you completely."

Kurt smiled, "Thanks, Dad!" He wrapped his arms around his father before he thought about the damage he might do to his precious slate gray suit and the pink rose pinned to his lapel. "Oh, I think we're crushing my boutonniere!"

"Oh, sorry," his dad said sheepishly as he released him from the hug. Kurt inspected the delicate rose and it appeared to be in satisfactory condition.

"Everything's intact," Kurt announced.

His dad mumbled something under his breath.

"What's that, Dad?"

"I was just thinking that this Alex kid better be a decent guy and treat you right or he's not going to stay intact," he huffed protectively.

"Oh, Dad," Kurt said affectionately. What was he going to do with that big lug?

Introducing Alex to his father wasn't too traumatic. It helped that Mercedes and Alex's little brother Eric were there too. They all rode together in Alex's car, and really it was less pressure going to the dance as a foursome. But Kurt wondered when would be the next time he and Alex would get to be alone.

They were able to enjoy the dance right away because they weren't scheduled to take the tickets during the first shift. It was a little strange that Rachel and Puck had taken over Tina and Artie's ticket-taking shift. Strange only because Finn and Quinn were on the first shift too, so it seemed like that would be awkward. Kurt saw Quinn whispering away to Rachel, so he supposed it wasn't so awkward after all—except maybe to the boys sitting in silence next to them

Kurt had a wonderful time dancing with Alex, and surprisingly didn't feel awkward at all. He thought his friends all looked like they were having a good time. His eyes swept the dance floor: Artie and Tina, Mercedes and Eric, not to mention Finn dancing with Quinn and Rachel with Puck. Kurt smiled. The night was a dream. No jocks hassled him, no bad drama—only good drama, like wondering whether kissing on the dance floor was appropriate. Kurt decided he'd wait to move forward on that when he and Alex were together in private. Something else could occupy his thoughts in the meantime—his deal with Rachel. There was still about a half an hour left for the dance but couples here and there were departing, leaving a few scattered tables abandoned. Kurt approached Mr. Schue to ask if some of the clean up could begin early.

"I think we could begin clearing some of the deserted tables so we could finish up a little early. Some people have church in the morning and things."

Mr. Schue raised his eyebrow at Kurt.

"What? Are you saying I don't go to church?"

"No, of course not, Kurt."

"Ok then. Can I have the key to the supply closet so a few of us can start subtly returning the decorations while you chaperone?"

"Sure, Kurt. That's a good idea."

"Thanks, Mr. Schuester." Kurt hurried off to gather up a few items and drop them into the supply closet. Then he dropped the key off in Rachel's waiting hand with a gleam in his eye. She beamed at him and mouthed 'thank you'.

"What was that about?" asked Puck at the exchange.

"Kurt got the key to the supply closet to start cleaning up early, and he just gave it to me," she grinned.

"Ok? Good for you?"

Kurt smirked at Puck's dim-witted response. He was really in for a surprise. Kurt made his way back to Alex because he didn't want to think too hard about what he was just accomplice to—but he knew Puck would be slapping himself for not understanding the potential of having the key to the supply closet.

Idiot.

That boy was lucky he was so damn hot. The hotness factor makes people more tolerant of the mentally deficient and emotionally stunted.

So Kurt didn't think about what he and Alex could have been doing in that supply closet. He let Rachel and Puck do their thing since they were both in the doghouse with the Fathers Berry. Besides, Kurt was still a little nervous about some things…

But as he and Alex finished up their last dance, he overheard Mr. Schue on his cell phone, and he caught on quickly that it was one of Rachel's dads calling. He saw Mr. Schue looking around the gym frantically. Then he overheard Mr. Schue say, "Excuse me, sir, I can't seem to find her at the moment, but some of the students started cleaning up a bit early."

Kurt realized he probably should run interference. "Alex, I have to attend to a minor situation. Will you please excuse me?"

"Of course," said Alex calmly. "You'll fill me in later?"

"Promise," Kurt assured him.

Mr. Schue had turned extremely pale (not a good look for him). "I will search and call you back right away, sir," he gulped into the phone.

Kurt watched Mr. Schue head out to the hallway, presumably to the storage closet. But Kurt knew that would be locked with the key safely inside with Rachel. And if they were too stupid or caught up in the moment to lock the closet, well, that was their fault. Nothing Kurt could do about that. So he didn't go out in the hallway to attract attention, but he busied himself at a table so that when Mr. Schue came back into the gym looking for him (as he inevitably would remember giving him the key), Kurt would be ready.

Right on time, Mr. Schue came running into the gym, shouting, "Kurt! I need the key to the supply closet. Have you seen Rachel and Puck?"

Kurt made a show of dropping the paper table cloth as if he were shocked. Then he looked up at Mr. Schue with great reluctance. "Well," Kurt said hesitantly, "did you try the parking lot? Do you know which one is Puck's truck?"

Mr. Schue nodded at Kurt, eyes wide with terror, and swallowed hard. It was quite comical, and Kurt bit the insides of his cheeks to contain his laughter at the sight. He let his grin break through after Mr. Schue turned away to race down the hall.

Kurt was proud of his act and how he had misdirected Mr. Schue, who had forgotten about confiscating the keys to the storage closet (which were now in Rachel's possession anyway). It was a performance Miss Berry would have complimented. Heck, Ms. Barbara Streisand herself would have been proud.

But Kurt had one more task to complete. Mr. Schue was onto them, so he was obliged to deliver a warning. Because who knows how long those two could be in there. Kurt groaned and his stomach turned a little. He did not want to think about it. So he marched up to the storage closet, knocked once on the door, and then said, "Ok, I bought you about five minutes, but you better finish up in there and come out looking and smelling fresh and innocent."

And that's just what they did.

Well, maybe they were a little worse for wear.

But Kurt was pleased that Rachel's dress did not appear disheveled. She must have taken his advice on hanging it up purposefully before she and Puck got started. Kurt shook his head, smiling to himself.

"So what was all this about?" asked Alex with a grin playing on his handsome face.

Kurt couldn't help it. He'd just put forth all this effort so that Rachel could have illicit sex on school grounds with her man. At least he could get a little action too. So Kurt closed his eyes, leaned in, and he pressed a gentle kiss to Alex's lips. He opened his eyes to see Alex smiling with his blue eyes wide in surprise.

Kurt spoke in a breathy rush, "This has been the best year of high school yet. I can't wait to tell you about my little mission tonight, but I can't tell you just yet." He nodded subtly toward Mr. Schue.

"I see," said Alex conspiratorially. "Perhaps we should get together for Sunday brunch?"

"Perfect!"

Kurt had to say (and he thought Rachel would agree) that Valentine's Day this year turned out pretty well. It was definitely his best ever.