A/N: hi! I'm eternally sorry and there's no excuse. Just read read and at the end, well, keep on reading! XX

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of the characters related to it. I do own a book with one thousand apologies written and directed to you guys.

Chapter 13: The Rocky Road

Jea|lous

Adj.

1. Fearful or wary of being supplanted; apprehensive of losing affection or position.

2. Resentful or bitter rivalry; envious / inclined to suspect rivalry.

3. Resentfully or painfully desirous of another's advantages.

There's people who say that jealousy is the product of a chemical reaction. Then there are other who say that it is possible to control it.

Blaine Anderson is neither of these.

It had been a week and a half since his heated encounter with Kurt in the office and they still hadn't talked about it. They were swaying around the subject but never really addressing the big elephant inside the room. He couldn't say things weren't fine between them but neither could he say they were in a honeymoon phase as they were only a couple of days back.

Kurt's relationship with Callum had grown stronger and Blaine had a front-row-seat to witness it: having both of them in class was torture. The ever-so-strong Mr. Anderson was tearing at the seams of his sanity and the pain he felt at the joyous sight that welcomed him every time he looked at them was leaving him at the edge of his emotions. All he could do was try and let it slide, not pay attention to the soft giggles or shared looks that left more to his imagination than could ever be described. Maybe he was overreacting; maybe he was seeing far too much from a completely normal situation or maybe he was seeing exactly what was happening which would only end with Kurt leaving and spending his entire life with this nobody.

Calm down, Blaine. You've been together for three months now, behave.

As a child, his mother had always told him he was too creative and living in the clouds and one day reality would strike him right in the face which could only result on "the little world you have created inside your head and all those fake friends you came up with are going to turn their back on you. You'll be left alone". He shivered as the memory of his mother flooded his mind. Quickly he decided to forget her vile face and go back to the task at hand: grading his students' assignments.

"Okay. Winchester. You chose the one about the Impala. Let's see how it went" he said to no one as he twirled the spoon inside his already empty cup of coffee.

After working for what felt like a billion hours, Blaine decided he should take a break and rest his mind (and hand) for a little while. He went to his room and found Mumford and Sons' last album, Babel, lying on the bedside table so he quickly grabbed it and a minute later the soft tunes of one of his favourite tracks were echoing through the walls of his bare apartment.

Well, love was kind for a time

Now just aches and it makes me blind

He closed his eyes in the pure comfort of his bed and let the music guide him through his emotions and maybe, just maybe, for a second he would find his longed peace of mind.

As the song came to an end, Kurt's face was all he could see.

And I'll walk slow, I'll walk slow

Take my hand, help me on my way

And I'll walk slow, I'll walk slow

Take my hand, I'll be on my way.

The apartment was silent once again: the only sound coming from Blaine's erratic breathing. Amazing how a song can describe exactly what you're going through.

For the first time in a long time, he unleashed his emotions and allowed his body to feel. He remembered when it all had started not so long ago: the hesitation he felt, how Wes had been unsurprisingly supportive, building up the courage to send the video, coffee dates, sneaking around searching for places to release their need for closeness, Kurt's face, Kurt's smell, Kurt's lips, Kurt's eyes. Kurt.

Every single thought he had, merged into one of the blue-eyed boy. He felt Kurt's presence everywhere. He simply couldn't get enough of him but now, he had competition. Because of course Callum wanted to take Kurt away from him. Well not consciously from him but he saw how the kid stared at his boyfriend, the glimmer in his eyes every time Kurt raised his voice or so as batted his eyelashes. He knew. He experienced the same thing. With the same boy. Which sane man wouldn't want to get Kurt all for himself?

Doubts he had never had, at least not since Bradley, shoved themselves against Blaine's brain: had they rushed everything? Was Kurt right about not being ready? Should Kurt experience other things before fully embarking on this relationship? Had these three months been a test they hadn't passed?

The clock struck 7:30 with a loud beep but Blaine was too submerged in his thoughts to fully acknowledge it.

The clock hit 8 and Kurt had still not heard a single thing from Blaine. Sundays at 7:30 was their ritual call before calling it a day and getting ready to go to sleep. He didn't want to disturb him but after half an hour of trying not to overthink the situation he grabbed his phone and typed a quick text.

(08:02) You up for a talk? xx – K

(08:10) Hey. Sorry I didn't call you. I was grading some papers and fell asleep. Do you mind if we keep on texting rather than on the phone? I'm lying on my bed and the landline is too far away – B.

Something was wrong with Blaine. Seriously wrong. Kurt didn't praise himself as the 21st century's Sherlock Holmes but he could guess a thing or two from the way his boyfriend had replied. First sign of alert, the reply arrived 8 minutes later: Blaine takes, at most, three minutes to answer. Second sign, he didn't use a petname. Third, he added no "xx" or kisses". Don't panic. He was probably still very asleep.

(08:12) is everything alright? I have no problem but I wanted to hear your voice before turning in xx – K.

(08:15) I'm sorry Kurt, but I'm very tired. We'll talk tomorrow. 7am, my office? xx – B.

(08:20) Okay, sorry I bothered you. Yes, we'll meet there xx – K

Okay that was weird, he thought as he fidgeted with his phone's case. What could be happening to Blaine? Kurt's worst fears started to surface.

He wants to leave me. I bored him. I'm not enough. He has met someone new. He's leaving the States to live of the arts in Montreuil, France and he's not taking me.

The best way for Kurt to channel his emotions was baking. The feeling of accomplishment he experienced when he smelled a fresh tray of chocolate chip cookies or a perfect crème brûlée was beyond comparison.

He made his way to the kitchen and found Burt and Carole sharing a kiss. He stood in the threshold and surrounded himself with a much needed love atmosphere.

"Hey kiddo! Sorry, we didn't know you were there" Burt said, extracting himself from his wife's embrace. "I thought you'd be on the phone with Mercedes, doesn't she call at this exact time every Sunday?"

"It's okay. Um, no. I texted her not to call me. I wanted to… bake" Kurt said moving to the nearest counter to get his ingredients ready.

Burt's face changed entirely. He knew what "baking" meant. He had first noticed it when Kurt's mom died. Apparently the whole concept of cooking transported him to a "safe place" here he would sing and relax till he calmed down any inner storm threatening to come.

Carole signalled Burt to leave, she would handle this. Kurt was a lot different from Finn but they were teenagers after all, and she herself as a teenager had suffered her fair share: she knew exactly what to say and do.

"Are you okay, honey?" she said in a motherly manner. "Do you want any help?"

"Thank you, Carole, but I'm okay. I just needed something to keep my mind busy and I was craving red velvet cupcakes. It's a win-win situation. But you can stay if you want".

"How's school going? There's six months left till graduation" she said as she sat on the top of one of the empty counters next to Kurt.

"It's going better than I thought it would. The Glee Club is finally earning the respect it deserves, Coach Sue has laid off my back and my credits have gotten much higher since I started with the TA classes" he said as he mixed the ingredients, adding a little extra force when he finished speaking. TA classes, the best part of my day.

"Congrats, sweetie. We all knew you could do it". Kurt smiled but it never got to his eyes. "I don't mean to intrude in your life, Kurt, but I feel like there's something else to this whole baking thing. Is there anything you wish to talk about? You've been acting differently these couple of weeks, more secretive. You are practically never at home but when you are, you spend it in your room or on the phone. I'm not telling you off or anything of that sort, but if there's something that's bothering you, know that you have someone here who you can trust in"

Kurt stared at the bowl and inhaled deeply. Should he tell Carole? There had been a time when he had doubted: that dinner with his family and Blaine seemed so far away it seemed like it hadn't happened at all.

"I need to tell someone, Carole, but I can't. I wish I could. It's eating me alive not to be able to voice out how happy and how miserable I feel at the same time. It's not something to worry about". He dropped the whisk and stared at Carole, expecting to see a face contorted by horror, he met with a warm smile and understanding eyes.

"It's a boy, isn't it?"

Kurt sat in the kitchen table, ready to tell Carole all he could. He just hoped he wouldn't risk his future with Blaine by jeopardizing his anonymity.

"It's not a boy. It's the boy" Kurt inhaled once again and prepared himself to open up his heart.

It all started a week ago when his father had the greatest idea ever to occur to someone.

"I want to meet him" Burt said one morning.

"Why all this sudden eagerness to meet a school friend?" Kurt asked as he fixed his bowtie in the mirror. "Is it because he's British? I know I made you watch the entire pre, post and during events of the Royal Wedding but I didn't know you had a fixation!"

"Kurt, don't be silly. I just want to meet him because you've been talking about him for three days straight. The same happened with your math teacher, you couldn't stop talking about him a week ago. You should invite him again"

Kurt blushed furiously.

"You want me to invite Callum for dinner?" he quickly asked in order not to conduct the conversation towards his teacher.

"No, I want to go to Disneyland with him. Of course, kid! Bring him over after school on Friday and we'll prepare a very American meal!"

"Okay, but no bacon for you, sir"

"The things I do for love" Burt said with a chuckle. The older Hummel patted Kurt's shoulder and left his son to finish getting ready for school.

The halls of McKinley were quiet when he entered. Oh right, only I come to school at 7am, it's not like anyone else is dating their math teacher.

He headed straight to Blaine's office and tapped his fingers lightly against the door.

"Come in!" that command made Kurt shiver as he remembered the last time Blaine had said that and where it had lead them.

"Hello, hello" Kurt chanted as he entered. No hungry hands welcomed him this time but a reserved smile. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. A bit tired, you know how Monday's go. Come, sit here" he signalled for Kurt to sit in front of him. The younger boy approached Blaine hesitantly and closed the space between them. Their lips touched for the briefest of times but caused both of them to feel the tension in the air. Kurt quickly retreated and sat where his teacher had asked him to. He gripped his bag's strap and stared at the wall behind Blaine.

"What just happened?" he said, now staring at Blaine who had suddenly transformed in Mr. Anderson.

Blaine sat silent. Only the sound of cars passing by and the rustle of the leaves against the small snow mounds filled the air.

"We are not alone in the school, Kurt. Someone could've come"

"Yes, we are. There's no one here. Only Figgins, in his office, and the janitor cleaning the gym. The door is closed and the blinds are down" Kurt explained.

"Your friend Callum is here" Blaine said with no emotion in his voice.

"Oh, so this is what all is about? Your unfounded jealousy" Kurt asked, judgingly.

"No"

"Then why do you bring him up?"

"I got to school and he was sitting alone in a park bench, probably not freezing like the rest of the mortals because he's oh-so-British and he's immune to winter" Kurt suppressed a laugh. "What's funny?"

"You are"

"Oh, really? I thought lately you only laughed at the jokes Callum tells you. I didn't know I had the honour of witnessing your laughter without speaking with a very annoying accent"

"Blaine nothing's going on with Callum. Oh my God, I've only known the guy for 3 days. Don't you think you're overreacting a little?" Kurt was serious now. "You sound just like my father".

Oops.

"What do you mean?" Oh no. Blaine wasn't supposed to find out about his not-yet-confirmed dinner plans with Callum and his entire family for crying out loud. This would only add fuel to the fire.

"Nothing, nothing. He says I get too excited whenever I meet someone new and I met this… friend… o-of Carole's and she's just great and I've been talking about her for days on end"

"Oh"

They sat staring at each other for what felt like hours until the first bell of the day rung.

"I should go"

"Yes, you should. I'll see you in class"

Kurt left with a feeling of bitterness and a huge lump in his throat.

As he approached his locker, he saw Callum perched on it.

"Good morning!" he said. Kurt didn't think he tried to be charming or anything, Callum just was, his demeanour, his accent and the way he dressed were all pluses and no minuses and these were making things very difficult.

"Hi" Kurt opened his locker and started getting his books out.

"You do not seem to be having a good morning. Is everything alright?"

"I've had better mornings, that I can tell you. Don't worry it's just that it's Monday"

"And that Math is in our first order of the day. That's just grand, don't you think?" Callum said sarcastically. Luckily he turned to say hi to someone who was passing by and missed Kurt's look of worry: he had totally forgotten he had classes with Blaine. It was going to be hard.

They sat at their usual spot, together in the front. Callum hadn't noticed any change in Kurt; he was a very good liar, he was training to be an actor and this was his best opportunity to show he could certainly play the part.

"Good morning, fairies" Azimio shouted from the back of the room just as Blaine was entering. Kurt still couldn't understand how Azimio was in that class anyway, was he secretly smart? But any thought he had regarding that particular riddle were suddenly cut off as Blaine rose from his desk and started walking towards the jock. As he was about to speak, Callum beat him to it.

"Who do you think you are talking to, mate?" Callum yelled as he approached Azimio's bench. "You bloody twat! You utter cock! Don't ever say that again!" he said as he took Azimio's notebook and threw it out the door "You better apologise".

"MR. BRUINEX!" Blaine yelled. "CALM DOWN THIS INSTANT, RETURN TO YOUR BENCH RIGHT THIS MINUTE!"

"Callum, c'mon, it's not worth it" Park whispered.

"What do you mean 'it's not worth it'?" Your classmate just got insulted by this sodding idiot and you are going to remain calm? Are you made out of iron? You machines!" Callum yelled again, this time channelling his anger towards the innocent Park and every one of his mates.

"MR. BRUINEX I WILL NOT REPEAT MYSELF AGAIN!"

Callum suddenly caught on to where he was and went to sit next to Kurt. "I'm sorry, Kurt. I would've beat the heck out of him" he said in a low voice, while clearly trying to calm down his wavering breathing. The entire class was more silent than in mass till Mr. Anderson's voice rose from the back.

"Mr. Adams. You are permanently expelled from this class. I don't want to see you inside this room ever again and life better not make us cross paths in the future. Grab your stuff, you are coming with me to the Principal's office" Blaine returned to the front without glancing at Callum nor Kurt. "Should I see any of you standing or talking or so as doing anything different than revising the exercises due for today expect no more Mr. Nice Guy. Adams. Out. Right now"

Kurt didn't know what to say, who to look at, where to run to. He only hoped for the earth to swallow him entirely. He took out his notebook with trembling hands and started reading his answers. Nothing made sense, every coherent operation seemed to vanish from his brain as he replayed the entire scene in his head. It had only been two minutes long but it had shook him to the core.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. It could only be one person.

(08:15) I'm sorry – B

He saw Callum was still trying to comprehend what had happened and was not paying attention to his friend.

(08:16) don't you dare ask for forgiveness. You were very brave and I'm forever grateful for you doing what you did xx – K

(08:18) I'm outside with this kid waiting for Figgins to call his parents. I hope they do something about this. I'm serious, Kurt, he won't be inside this class anymore, not on my watch – B

(08:20) You did what you could and that's enough. I'm so glad Callum didn't hit him, it could've ended even worse than it did – K

(08:30) Yeah, Callum was very brave too. You got yourself a brand new hero! He must be very proud to have caught your attention! – B

(08:34) I didn't mean it that way and you know it. I'll just continue with my exercises, I don't want my teacher to get mad at me – K

(08:36) I'm sorry. He won't, he thinks you are irresistible. I'll be back in ten xx – B

(08:40) I'll be here – K

Kurt didn't know exactly what was happening between Blaine and him. Had he been this blind and hadn't seen how Callum acted towards him? Or was this all Blaine being delusional? He favoured the latter but knew something else was happening between Callum and him, people weren't so randomly kind to someone they just knew, less almost get into a fight for said strange someone. They had only been friend for a couple of days; yes, they had gotten along as fast as lightning and Callum was really sweet and attentive but where can Kurt draw the line? There's attentive and then there's I'd take a bullet for you.

Kurt had to admit Callum was what you'd call beautiful; exotic but beautiful all the same. He could not compare him to his boyfriend: Blaine had a certain charm, probably his exuding masculinity and manliness were the main ingredients to the amazing recipe his teacher was. The fact that he was older made Kurt feel safe and protected but after what he'd just witnessed he stopped thinking about protection as something that comes from the age gap but from a rare characteristic that apparently both men held.

He was in love with Blaine. That was sure. The prospect of spending his entire life next to the math teacher didn't seem impossible and did not make him quiver at all: he adored kissing him and more than once he had been assaulted by the thought of taking those kisses further and further till they became two in one. Blaine was a good man, literally, a good man, not one that only pays his taxes and doesn't litter but an all-round decent human being. Kurt was lucky to have him by his side; to be the one getting the "good night" texts from; to be the one getting the "good morning" ones too

On the other hand, he did like Callum. There was no point in denying it. The truth was he wanted to know more about the guy, how he was brought up and how he had gotten every one of his scars. How his childhood in Liverpool had been and if he liked mint chocolate chip ice cream or plain vanilla. Could he compare this to what he had with Blaine? No. could he say he didn't want to know what kissing Callum would feel like? No, he definitely couldn't. Was this what being a teenager felt like? Kurt had always had everything so clear, he was not someone who dreaded making decisions, solutions often came very quickly to him. Still, here he was.

He looked at Callum and saw him under a different light; the light of chance, of possibility. All these thoughts could be caused by two things:

His hormones telling him to act on rushed emotions caused by the recent ordeal or knowing that Callum was gay.

Because apparently he was "obviously gay, how didn't you notice, Kurt? We have been mates for two days, you should've already deduced it!" They were talking on the phone, one thing led to another and Callum ended up casually mentioning it. Kurt couldn't believe he said it with such lightness. It had been so hard for him. Not with his family but with everyone else: people are afraid of anything they simply don't understand.

His teacher returned and without a word started talking about the exercises. He glanced at Kurt for one moment but he broke it quickly before anyone caught on what was going on between them.

The class went by smoothly, with no more abrupt interruptions or books flying out of doors. Just as the bell rang, Blaine spoke.

"Okay guys, class dismissed. Please bring the new exercises done for next class. For all those who've been asking, I'll hand in the graded assignments next week. Have a nice day. Kurt, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"I'll wait for you outside, a'rite?" Callum said touching Kurt's shoulder.

"Maybe we should meet in the cafeteria, instead. We can have coffee and then head to our next class"

"Perfect. Grande non-fat mocha right?"

"Exactly" Kurt said smiling shyly.

Callum left and once again the tension could be felt in the air.

"Are you alright?" Blaine asked as he closed the door. "It must've been a very difficult situation to go through, I'm sorry"

"We already talked about this, Blaine. You don't have to be sorry for anything. It happened and now it's solved. Done. Thank you for standing up for me" Kurt said, playing with one of the sleeves of his teacher's cardigan.

"Monday morning's no even 3 hours in and we've already gone through a couple of disasters!" the curly-haired man exclaimed. He covered Kurt's hand with his own. "I want to be your knight in shining armour" he barely whispered.

"You are, honey. I'm proud of you"

"I want you to be" Blaine said with suppressed tears in his eyes. Kurt caressed his boyfriend's face and kissed him deeply but softly at the same time. They inclined their heads to try and get more access but the kiss never got feverish; it was not about hunger or desire; it was love, pure, ardent love. Neither of them wanted to voice it out, in fear of drawing each other away. It was all very cliché but saying those three words would seal things and Kurt wasn't entirely sure he was ready. With all the thinking he had been doing in class, he knew it wasn't fair to Blaine to keep doing this. He ended the kiss abruptly and found Blaine staring at him with a mix of doubt, desire and beneath it all deception and pain.

"I should leave. Break's going to end soon and I don't want anyone seeing us" Kurt said as he fidgeted with his satchel's strap.

"Oh right, go" he fixed his cardigan and automatically went into Mr. Anderson mode. "Your coffee is getting cold" he added as he unlocked the door and showed Kurt out. "Have a nice day, Mr. Hummel"

Kurt made his way to the cafeteria and found Callum sitting on a table with two cups of coffee and a raspberry muffin. Blaine would've gotten me a blueberry on- oh my god, this has to stop, Kurt. Behave. Get a fucking grip.

Callum waved and Kurt waved back. As he approached the table, thousands of things started twisting inside his head but funnily none of those were related to his British friend but to the lovely man sitting in room 206.

A/N: Woohoo! I'm back. I had uploaded an Author's Note thoroughly explaining my unannounced absence but hey, I'm back *shoots confetti out of a canon*.

Thanks to everyone who remained loyal to this story and feel free to contact me on tumblr (high-functioning-gallifreyan . tumblr . com), twitter (moritamar), Instagram (themoumoe), a telegram or an owl. Love you guys, and once again, thank you very much!

OHH! Heads up, I'm evil.