Blaine had sounded broken on the phone.
"I haven't seen you in so long… Please, Kurt."
It probably should have been a warning sign.
"Here's your coffee." Kurt handed him the cup - with the barista's phone number scribbled on it under her own name. Figures. Kurt had had the same happen to him about a year earlier. Blaine looked up at her and gave her the Queen's Wave, and she tipped her head back and mouthed not again.
"Thank you."
"Not a problem. You wanted to talk?"
"Yeah… Can we walk?"
"Of course." Kurt followed him outside and down the sidewalk.
"I've been thinking."
Kurt chuckled. "About actually doing some of the homework you so love to just toss around during songs?"
"Um, no."
"Cutting back on the walking on top of furniture?"
"No. I've been thinking about you."
"Oh, no." A feeling of dread washed over him.
Blaine stopped and turned to Kurt. "I miss you. I shouldn't have broken up with you-"
"If I remember correctly, I broke up with you."
"Yes, but-"
"Which means I don't want you back."
"Kurt…"
"No. I love you, Blaine- but as a friend. That's it. I'm sorry. I'm not going to become your boyfriend again just because Prince Blaine only wants what he can't have."
"What?"
"The first time, you only wanted me after you noticed I was starting to move on. This time, you want me because I'm completely over you and I don't want you back. I'm not doing this, Blaine."
"Kurt, I love you-!"
"I'm sorry."
Blaine moved forward too fast for Kurt, pulling him in by the back of the neck into a kiss. Kurt's coffee slipped from his fingers and exploded on the street, all over his boots.
He put his hands between them, against Blaine's chest, and pushed.
"Don't ever do that again!" Kurt yelled, hating how his voice cracked on the ever.
"Kurt…" Blaine tried to move back in, but Kurt pushed him away again.
"No. Less than no, now that you tried that. I know you're sad. I know you miss me. I know you want nothing more than to fix what you did and how you acted at the end. But I'm not going through the pain of falling for you and getting my heart broken all over again because you have more mood swings that a pregnant woman with a PMS-ing sister at a family reunion."
"I know what happened with Karofsky," Blaine spat out.
"What?"
"I know you kissed him."
"Who told you that?"
"Doesn't matter. How could you?"
"How could I what? He's changed, Blaine. And it's not like I'm attached to you anymore. I'm single. I can do what I want."
"Don't give me that. He hurt you so many times. Or have you forgotten?"
"I haven't forgotten. I haven't even forgiven him. But that doesn't mean I can't be attracted to him."
"Do you love him?"
Kurt shook his head. "No. I like him; I don't love him. Not that it makes any difference." Kurt turned away. "Let me know when you've got your life together. I can't help you if you only want something of me that I can't give you, and I certainly can't help you if you won't even listen to me."
He didn't look back, no matter how many times Blaine called after him.
000
Mercedes stroked Kurt's hair as he shook in her arms. The girls had convened in Rachel's still-horrifyingly-pink bedroom with the original intention to have a discussion of battle plans for their throwdown at the end of the week, but it turned into a giant "let's comfort Kurt" session after about twenty pleading texts from Blaine forced Kurt to explain what had happened.
"It's been a month. I don't love him anymore, but he can still make me cry like this. He still does make me cry like this."
"Are you sure you don't want me to cut him a vagina and use the leftovers to give him tits?" Santana asked from across the room. "I've been looking for a reason to mutilate some boy-parts."
"Why?" Rachel asked, somewhat horrified.
"It's, like, a rite of passage into the Forceful Bitchy Lesbian community to somehow make a douchebag unable to impregnate anything, whether or not he ever wants to."
"I'm pretty sure it's not-"
"Shut up."
Lauren suddenly yanked out her earbuds and stood. "I have an idea! Tubthumping!"
"That's what she said."
Kurt made a mildly disgusted face. "There is not a single person in this room I would want to do that with. No offense."
"The song! You know- I get knocked down, but I get up again…"
"Oh."
"Yeah. Now how do we dance to this?"
"We have four trampolines in my backyard," Brittany offered.
Santana gave her a confused look for a moment, then said, "That might actually be perfect."
"Time to choreograph this bitch," Lauren said.
000
Maybe it was partially an excuse to get Kurt back into his Cheerios uniform (that the girls assured him was the sexiest thing since sex, and that Coach Sylvester had never actually asked him to return for some reason) or maybe it really was all because they needed four people with high-flying tumbling experience and Mercedes and Rachel wanted to sing, but he soon found himself being submitted to Mercedes measuring him and lengthening the pants by a few inches before he was dragged down the street to Brittany's house and pushed onto his own trampoline. Quinn, Santana, and Brittany occupied the other three, each bouncing slightly in their own uniforms because Sue had refused to take back their "dirty traitor leftovers."
He somehow managed to learn all the steps Rachel tossed at them, even doing flips without breaking his neck on the springs. He was very thankful he wouldn't be singing this time because most of the words were impossible to remember, even though he'd heard the song millions of times before.
Lauren assured them it was her "jam," which was followed by a question about toast from Brittany and a demonstration of Lauren saying the words at hyper-speed before they agreed for her to take lead. Rachel took the high notes, and Mercedes and Tina did background drunk-sounding shouting.
They decided to end practice when the sun started to set. They all found that they were suddenly hungry and made their way into the house for whatever leftovers they could find in the Pierce refrigerator, which ended up consisting of one and a half pork chops, a wilting bowl of salad, and some reheated mac 'n' cheese and soup. Rachel and Tina started cutting up fruit, Mercedes broke out the popcorn popper, and Santana tossed some hot dogs onto the movie theatre style rolling cooker, and soon they were all curled up on the couches and floor while Brittany pulled out the blankets and Kurt went through the shelves of animated musicals. At this point, it would be another impromptu sleepover.
It was a wonder they ever got any homework done, considering the time they put into Glee and falling asleep in each other's homes. Thank God for study hall.
000
They settled on a marathon of the female empowerment children's movies, which meant Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, and Shrek if they managed to stay awake through all three.
About ten minutes into the first movie, Rachel tossed an unpopped popcorn kernel at Kurt and said, "You're totally Belle."
"How do you figure that?"
"You care about your dad more than anyone else in the world, you have Blaine's unwanted attempts at getting you back interfering with your friendship, and of course there's Dave…" She dragged out Dave's name, and it was followed but giggles from the rest of the girls.
Kurt glared at her. "What about Dave?"
"He's totally your Beast," Mercedes answered.
"Girls, I appreciate you caring so much about my love life, but it's not going to happen."
"He's crazy about you!"
"But I'm not crazy about him."
"Uh-huh."
"I admit I find him attractive. But that's it."
"Place your bets," Santana said, snickering.
Lauren: "Two weeks."
Tina: "A week."
Quinn: "A month."
Mercedes: "Prom."
Rachel was very specific: "They'll unleash their sexual frustration on each other in the bathroom at Nationals right before we have to perform, and they'll go onstage with their clothes still wrinkled."
Kurt buried his head in his pillow.
"Oh, it's all in good fun," Mercedes said, putting an arm around him.
"I, for one, wouldn't give a damn about your love life if I had one right now," Santana said, probably trying to be reassuring. She ignored Brittany's sympathetic look.
Kurt sighed and focused on the movie.
He'd never be able to see the Beast the same way again.
000
When Dave stormed into the before-school Glee meeting on Monday holding a rose, Kurt immediately denied any and all responsibility for putting it in his locker. "Ask Quinn. I hear she's pretty handy with a nail file."
"You know why this happened, though, don't you?"
"Possibly. It's nothing that you need to be concerned with."
"One of your friends broke into my locker. I think I have a reason to be concerned."
"It's just a little joke."
"Okay. Then tell me."
"Um."
"You know I'll just assume it's worse than it really is."
"It's pretty bad."
"Try me."
Kurt sighed. "The girls and I were watching Beauty and the Beast Friday night."
"Let me guess, I'm the Beast?"
Kurt nodded. "And I'm Belle."
"…Oh."
"Yeah."
"…And that's bad?"
"David. You know it's not going to happen."
"Then stop acting like it will! Do you even notice-?"
"What's going on?" Mercedes stepped between them, apparently having just walked in. She noticed Dave was holding the rose. "Oh. You found it."
Dave stormed out.
"Great job, Mercedes." Kurt sat down dramatically and blew his hair out of his face. "What now?"
"Aw, he'll be back."
"Don't count on it. He probably doesn't even want to see me right now." He dropped into a chair, and Mercedes sat down more gracefully next to him.
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault." Mercedes gave him the you-best-be-joking look, so he explained. "I told him we're never going to happen."
"A lie, but continue."
"It's not a lie!"
"You think he's hot. You made out with him. He's totally your type. He loves you so much already that I'm pretty sure he thinks your crap doesn't stink. At least, he treats you like you're perfect."
"That doesn't mean I can…"
"…Can what?"
"…love him," Kurt finished, in a small voice.
"Mm-hmm."
"I don't."
"You will."
"How do you know?"
Mercedes pulled him into a hug. "Because I know you better than anybody else does, better than you know yourself, and I know that if you can forgive him for what he did to you before, he'll be perfect for you."
"I don't know if I can forgive him. I can't just… forget what he did."
"I'm not telling you to forget. I'm telling you, when you look at him, to see Dave, and not Karofsky. Karofsky bullied you. Dave never will."
Kurt pulled out of the hug and looked Mercedes in the eye. "Why are you so smart?"
"Cause the part that's missing from a Y-chromosome is the part that gives you the ability to think about things before making decisions."
"Are you calling me impulsive?"
"Little bit."
