Author's Note: This is unbeta'd. I'm leaving for FL with a friend later today, and I won't be able to update until the first week of August. I'm going to have no internet connection, and whatnot. But I thought you guys deserved one more chapter before I disappeared for a while. But I just finished it, so my beta doesn't really have time to beta it, sadly. I'll be posting the beta'd version when I get back.

In any case, I hope you enjoy it. I promise I'll get back to the RENT bit soon as well. I just have a lot to work in.

And I'M DREADFULLY SORRY FOR NOT REPLYING TO YOUR REVIEWS THIS CHAPTER. I'm just leaving in two hours, and I simply don't have time! I'll do it when I get back, I promise!

Chapter Thirteen

Kurt woke up at five and couldn't fall back asleep. He lay there for another half hour desperately willing his mind to drift off before finally declaring defeat and getting up. He turned off his alarm so that it wouldn't disturb Richard and go off later.

Kurt supposed his was good. He hadn't had a chance to take a shower yesterday, and now he had plenty of time. So, he slipped out of the room after grabbing his Dalton uniform and some boxers, and Kurt went to the bathroom. In the evening there was usually at least one person in there as well, and it was a bit odd seeing it this empty. Still, it was nice. He didn't want to run into anyone yet. And it wasn't as if he was particularly good at hiding his bad moods. Nick and Jeff liked to tease him about his bitch face – as they called it – sometimes, and Kurt was sure they'd want to know what was wrong.

Turning on the hot water, Kurt closed his eyes, feeling his muscles relax. There was something soothing about being all along. His breathing got deeper, and he simply focused on it washing over him. Eventually he needed to shampoo and condition, but long after the bubbles had gone away, he stood there. In fact, it wasn't until his skin threatened to start to get prune-ish that he finally shut off the shower and grabbed a towel to dry off.

He went to the mirror, towel wrapped around his waist. It took some five minutes to blow-dry his hair and another few to moisturize, but the familiarity of the process made his mind shut down completely, and made him feel at ease. Something so repetitive just helped soothe him. And by the time he was dressed, he was ready to face the day.

Still, he figured he might as well go back to his room for a little while before heading out to the cafeteria and main hall for breakfast. When he pulled into the room, somewhere around six fifteen, Richard was still fast asleep. And it was early enough that Kurt had time to simply sleep as well. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to, but he still slipped on top of his bed and curled up, shutting his eyes.

His breathing became deeper, and his mind started to zone out. And before he knew it, Kurt was floating somewhere between dreams and reality. Of course, it didn't take long before he was being shaken awake as well. "C'mon, it's time to get up." The voice was slowly bringing him back to consciousness.

"Don't want to," he grumbled in response, groaning. He felt like he could just keep on lying there.

"Kurt, you're going to need to go to breakfast soon. Up and at them." Richard sat down next to him, and Kurt opened his eyes and pulled himself pulled himself up as well. His hands immediately went up to his hair, and as he groggily looked at Richard, he smoothed down any stray hairs.

"What time is it?"

"It's only six." That meant they had a full hour and a half until school started. Kurt scowled, slightly annoyed that Richard had woke him up this early.

"It takes me fifteen minutes to eat breakfast and brush my teeth," he mumbled, wishing he could just go back to sleep. Richard bit his lip and looked nervously at Kurt before speaking.

"Faith told me you knew." It was too early for this kind of a talk, wasn't it?

"You mean about you two cheating?" Kurt asked, scoffing.

"Yeah, about us… cheating." He gave a look as if he'd swallowed something bitter when he said it. But, really, what else was it? Maybe it was just from the guilt. That had to be it, Kurt figured.

"Why are you even talking about this with me?" Kurt asked. After all, it wasn't as if he and Richard had ever really been close.

"Look, we may not be friends, but I don't want you to hate me. I gave you a bad enough impression when we first met. But you are nice, and you're still a Warbler and my roommate. I don't want you leaving with hard feelings or horrible thoughts about me. This is just a mess of a situation." He put his head in his hands and sighed, closing his eyes. Kurt didn't even know what to really say to that.

"Well, it's just hard for me as Blaine's friend…"

"This is all my fault."

"Well, no," Kurt replied, though, certainly some of the fault did fall on him.

"We should've been more careful," Richard muttered. "I never should've brought Faith back to my room." But that wasn't what Kurt had meant at all.

"Oh, so you two could just keep on cheating behind Blaine's back without anyone finding out?" He asked, sounding disgusted. "I don't know how Blaine ever forgave you." Richard's look changed to one of annoyance.

"Kurt, you don't know everything about it. I'd keep your judgments to yourself until you do." His sounded a bit snippy, but he shook his head. "Sorry."

"No, don't apologize. Just enlighten me. What is this mysterious thing that I don't know that's apparently just going to change my mind and put things in this whole new perspective?"

"I can't…" Kurt leapt off of the bed, throwing his hands up in frustration.

"Is that all anyone here can say? 'I'm sorry. I can't.' I'm so sick of that phrase." He was tired of this. Apparently no one wanted to tell him anything. They just pulled him in, and then when they found out that he knew, they just told him to wait.

"It's not for me to tell! Blaine needs to do it." Kurt's fingers ran through his hair, and he was sure that he was ruining it, letting it splay in every which direction. Yet he couldn't care less. He just wanted to leave and find a place alone, like earlier. Somewhere where everyone wouldn't bring up a topic they couldn't discuss…

"Well, he doesn't seem to want to do it. Nobody does. Everyone just tells me that I don't understand. How can I if no one wants to tell me?" Looking in the mirror, he sighed in disgust. His hair was indeed strewn everywhere, and he looked like a wreck. His face was blotchy red, as it tended to get when he was angry, and he turned away, his fists clenching.

"Woah, I didn't mean to –" Richard looked at him hopelessly, obviously afraid of Kurt's reaction. "You're kind of overreacting. I'm sure Blaine will tell you at some point."

"Oh, at some point – thanks. It's been 'some point' for weeks now," he spat out, pacing back and forth across their tiny room. And of course Richard would think he was overreacting. Kurt didn't even know anymore why he had bothered to just endure it all quietly.

"Give Blaine another few days. He's getting there. I promise." Like hell Blaine was. Kurt just ran his fingers through his hair one more time and walked towards the door.

"I'm going to go eat breakfast. Bye."

"But Kurt –" Kurt didn't allowed Richard to say whatever excuse he was going to get out. Instead he slammed the door behind him and walked down the hallways.

Glancing down at his watch, he realized a full twenty minutes had passed since Richard had woke him up. That meant that some people would already be at breakfast. Dammit. All he wanted was to be alone. Kurt felt his eyes sting as tears threatened to break through.

"Oh, hey, Kurtsie." He didn't need to look behind him to know that it was Jeff. Of course, he wasn't even going to get a little break from others. Kurt bit down on his lip, but the tears were just as stubborn. He shook and buried his head as they managed to escape.

"Oh my God, Kurt, are you alright?" There was the sound of footsteps speeding up behind him, and Kurt felt two pairs of arms pull him into a hug. "Who do we need to beat up?" Nick asked. Kurt couldn't help but laugh a little through his tears. It was typical for them to start out like that before even asking what was wrong.

"It must be bad. Your hair is messy." They pulled back and turned him around, looking at him solemnly. It was almost unusual to see them like this, without a smile. But Kurt simply shook his head.

"Here, let's go back to our room," Nick said, putting a hand on his back and steering him towards it. He let them move him, feeling too tired and annoyed with everything to try and protest. It wouldn't do him any good, anyway, he was sure. Now that they had seen him crying, they were going to be determined to find out what exactly was wrong. But, then again, there was nothing that the two of them could do to fix it.

And, besides, how the hell was he going to explain this all to them? He couldn't.

Yet just as they were approaching their room, Kurt heard a voice he didn't want to hear. Not yet. "Kurt!" Blaine. Who else but Blaine Anderson would find a way to sneak back into his life at the worst moment? "What happened?" Blaine asked, immediately running up, like Nick and Jeff had, concern plastered on his face.

"Go away," Kurt managed to hiss out, his stomach clenching. There was no way in hell he'd be able to down breakfast at this point.

"I – Kurt?" The hurt was obviously there, and Kurt swallowed thickly. He couldn't just throw himself back into Blaine's arms. And Blaine was holding his arms as if he just wanted to press Kurt against him, hug him and say everything was going to be alright. He couldn't back down from what he said yesterday.

"If you can't tell me, then I'm not ready." Jeff and Nick looked confused, but they didn't say anything, surely afraid to interrupt whatever was going on. Blaine's mouth opened and closed, and he shook his head, looking sadly away.

"I'm sorry." He shook for a moment and then sprinted away. Kurt had noticed that Blaine looked, though not quite as bad as yesterday, still exhausted. And Blaine looked as if he could do with a hug as well. But now wasn't the time, and Kurt couldn't be the one to give it to him. He couldn't let Blaine curl against him, his head nuzzled in his neck. But his heart ached with the thought, with the memory of it there, resting against him and Blaine's hand firmly holding his.

Funnily enough, it's was Blaine's text that came to mind. "Courage." That was exactly what he needed right now. Kurt reached up with his arm and wiped away his tears on his sleeve, sniffling. Jeff had opened the door, and ushered Kurt in, handing him a tissue.

"Sit," Jeff instructed, and Kurt sighed, his breath starting to steady. He just needed courage. There was no need to have a breakdown. I can't. He shook a little as those words echoed around in his head, but his resolve remained strong; no more tears fell.

"So, what exactly happened?" Nick asked tentatively. "What's with you and Blaine?" Kurt opened his mouth, almost saying that he couldn't tell them. But after this whole mess that seemed laughable. No, it wasn't completely his right to tell them, but he had known them long enough. They weren't the types of people who would go blabbing it to everyone they knew.

"As you know, I dated William."

"Yeah, we remember," Jeff said, giving Nick a nervous glace.

"But what does this have to do with this whole mess?" Nick added, tilting his head to one side.

"Well, Blaine helped me out after that. And he was kind of giving me this pep talk and telling me to have courage. After all, I felt like hell because of William. I never meant to hurt him…" Kurt shook his head. William had somehow found it in himself to forgive him; at least that part was over.

"Um, alright. Continue."

"And he was talking about how you shouldn't hide secrets," Kurt said, wishing he had done something different back then. "And, um, I was hiding a secret from him."

"Oh, God, you didn't tell him that you like him?" Nick asked, looking horrified at the thought. Kurt shook his head, and he could tell the two of them relaxed.

"Faith's cheating on Blaine. Was. It's not my business to tell you, but –"

"What!" Jeff didn't even let Kurt finish. "She's – But they've been together for ages. How could she? With whom?" Kurt sighed, a wave of exhaustion hitting him. He rubbed his eyes before responding.

"Richard."

"As in our Richard? As in the Richard you're rooming with?" Kurt nodded. "That little…" He looked angry, and Kurt realized he had to continue before they threw some kind of a fit over this. Not that he could blame them; he had been just as upset to find out.

"Well, I decided to tell Blaine…" Kurt slowly explained the rest of the story, and Nick and Jeff stopped him only occasionally, asking him how he knew that Faith and Richard were cheating or how certain things tied together. But, in the end, they just looked kind of horrified.

"So, he just shoved you away? And he… knows?" Kurt nodded, and Nick scowled.

"I don't understand. Why would Blaine do that to you?" Jeff asked.

"I don't know. Like I said, he won't tell me. Hopefully he will soon. Whatever it is, he'd better have a damn good reason. I'm so tired of being thrown about. I just feel… drained. I don't even know how I feel anymore. I want him so badly, but now I just can't." There was a momentary silence, where Nick and Jeff said nothing, but looked at him worriedly.

Finally, Nick broke it. "I think it's time for breakfast."

KBKBKBK

Most of the day went by uncomfortably. He didn't fail to notice Blaine staring at him in the classes they had together. At least Jeff and Nick managed to pull off a decent sort of look of innocence. Blaine had always looked at them a few times worriedly, namely during lunch, but they pretended as if they didn't know, and cheerily waved at him. Somehow they managed the same for Richard as well.

In any case, at least it wasn't as bad as the morning had been. The Warblers met for rehearsals after school ended. Of course, the people in RENT couldn't be there for the whole time, and it was more casual now, in any case. With a few of their people, most importantly Blaine, gone for rehearsals so often, they had decided that it was probably best not to compete this year. Next year would have to do…

In an attempt to lift to mood, which everyone could tell was tense, Wes suggested they practice Taio Cruz's Break Your Heart. After all, there was something fun in doing an R & B, rap sort of song. But the content didn't seem fitting. Again, Kurt noticed the way Blaine was looking at him while singing. And, of course, there was ride to look forward to. Or, well, not really look forward to…

And sure enough, it was tense. Nobody really said anything, and Blaine eventually turned up the music loud enough so that they couldn't. Kurt wished things could just go back to the way they were – when his crush was innocent and Blaine treated him with nothing but a cheerful, dorky attitude. But of course it couldn't.

Practice itself wasn't half that bad. Luckily he ended up with William practicing You Okay, Honey? It was nice, and the two of them laughed through it a bit. It was nice taking a break from it all. Though Kurt didn't fail to mention the blush that did light up William's cheeks the first time he got to the line, "You're cute when you blush." Maybe it was all part of the act, but something told Kurt it was more than that. After all, William was upfront about the fact that he still had feelings for him.

Unfortunately, practice didn't seem to go so well for Blaine. He was yelled at a few times by Bill, who was telling him he wasn't putting enough emotions into whatever song it was he was practicing with Faith. And he noticed that several times she took him to the side and whispered seemingly angrily at him.

As for Santana and Rachel, they still were tense. Rachel managed to yell at her a few times over her, as she called it, "unprofessional behavior", and Santana usually seemed to have a snippy comeback. What else was new? But, in a way, Kurt didn't mind. While it was frustrating Bill and occasionally did intrude on others' practicing, it reminded him of life in McKinley. And, yes, he did miss it. For all the bullying, it still had been his home.

When rehearsals were finally over, he started to head towards Blaine, but William stopped him.

"Hey, there," William said, running his hands through his hair and grabbing his beanie. He slipped it on, and Kurt couldn't help but shake his head. It was like his trademark the way he wore it constantly.

"Hey yourself."

"I was thinking maybe we could hang out. It's only six. I mean, if you want." How could he say no? Kurt nodded. It'd be nice to be able to relax for a little bit.

"Sounds good to me. Anywhere specific you wanted to go?" Kurt asked.

"I dunno. I'm kind of hungry. McDonald's?" Kurt's nose scrunched up at the thought. That was about as unhealthy and caloric as it got. "Oh, right, I forgot," William said, noticing Kurt's expression and laughing.

"How about Panera?"

"That works for me!" William slipped his hands in his pockets and smiled at him.

"Hey, are you coming?" Kurt turned his head to see Blaine walking up to him. "We're going to leave now, so…" He shifted from foot to foot, looking nervously at Kurt.

"I'm actually heading out with William, but thanks." Blaine's face fell slightly.

"Oh. I just was going to tell you – uh, never mind." It was as if his heart had skipped to his throat for a moment. Kurt knew it wouldn't be fair to William if he abandoned their newly made plans because of his selfish desire to hear what Blaine had to say. So, instead, he just gave Blaine a sympathetic sort of smile.

"Sorry. It can wait 'til tomorrow, though, right?" But what was this massive secret? Part of him wanted Blaine to say no, tell him it was urgent and drag him away. But then he glanced over at William whose head was hanging as he stared down at his shoes, his cheeks flushed. "I've kind of got plans," Kurt said, scooting over so that he nudged William. William's eyes snapped up, and a smile slowly spread on his face. There, that was better.

"Yeah, tomorrow," Blaine said distractedly. "See you later, Kurt." Then, to Kurt's surprise, he turned and looked at William, offering him a smile as well. "Maybe you too, William. We should all hang out sometime." With that, he sprinted back, leading away to his car. Kurt felt himself relax. Hell, that hadn't even been that bad. True, it had been a little awkward, but still…

"So, you okay with Panera still?" William finally asked, and Kurt nodded, and he followed William outside to his car.

It was nice that as the summer got closer, the days got longer, Kurt couldn't help but think. One thing Kurt found depressing about the winter and even the spring was that it got dark out far too early. But now the sun was just starting to set, and the sky was a nice shade of pink.

They didn't really say anything on their walk back to the car, but silence wasn't uncomfortable. It was only when they started driving and Kurt had closed his eyes that William spoke again. "You okay? You're being awfully quiet."

"Yeah, I'm just kind of exhausted. I couldn't sleep last night. Actually, I woke up at five."

"But you really only have trouble sleeping when you're stressed." He flushed before adding, "So, you said once. Um, did something happen?" Kurt was surprised that William even remembered that. Although, actually, William seemed to remember a lot of the little things about him. Honestly, sometimes Kurt couldn't help but think that things would be easier if he just liked him back.

"Blaine and I had a bit of a fight." He winced, feeling bad that he was bringing this up with William. "We don't have to talk about this," he added.

"No, it's fine. And I thought you guys already were in a fight. At least you're on speaking terms now, right?"

"Actually, we weren't until when you just saw," Kurt explained. "The thing is I was the one to tell him to back off this time." Even though his guilt was now playing with him, the words poured out. Somehow it was just easy to talk with William.

"Why? Did he do anything to hurt you?" Kurt noticed that William's grip on the steering wheel tightened.

"No. Well, not intentionally. The thing is that he keeps on alternating between hugging me and refusing to talk to me. I can't handle it anymore. I need some sort of consistency." William's brow scrunched up.

"Explain…"

"Every time I have a problem, he's just been there, and he's hugged me and held my hand and told me it's going to be alright. And, I can't help it. It just feels… nice." He blushed and glanced over at William. "Just tell me if you start to get uncomfortable, alright?"

"Sure thing. I want to help you, Kurt. Just let it out." He slowed down at a red light and turned towards Kurt, smiling.

"Thank you." Kurt felt an urge to hug him, although, considering William was still driving, he figured that wouldn't be too wise. William's eyes went back to the road just as the traffic light turned green.

"But continue."

"Anyway, sometimes I'll say things, and I'm not even sure what triggers it, but he gets angry and refuses to talk to me. And according to him, there's some reason. He just says he can't tell me yet. Which is all fine, but I can't deal with him pretending we're best friends one moment and then giving me the silent treatment the next."

"That's… understandable. I mean, he shouldn't be playing with your emotions like that." Kurt nodded and slid down in the seat.

"And I think he's the only person left in Lima and Westerville that even doesn't know that I like him. I don't know whether that's worse or better." They slowed down as they pulled into the parking lot. They unbuckled themselves, and William reached out and placed a hand on Kurt's shoulder. He looked unsure.

"You have every right to be upset with him. But maybe he's coming around. It sounded like it at the theatre. I'm sorry I can't help more." He looked so concerned and honestly apologetic. It wasn't even his fault, and – hell – he probably wasn't thrilled talking about it. Yet here he was. Kurt threw his arms around William, leaning forward awkwardly.

"Thank you. Thank you so much," he muttered, squeezing tightly. It took a moment to notice that William had frozen underneath him. He pulled away.

"Yeah, that might be – um – Let's just wait a while until you try hugging me again," William said, his voice shaky. "But, honestly Kurt, it's no problem. I want us to be friends." Kurt nodded, wondering how he could've been so lucky to have a friend like William. "Now, c'mon, let's get something to eat. I'm starving."

Thoughts?

Also: What do you want to see in season four? I know that's a while ahead, but since we know that some of the cast is graduating and some isn't... Would you rather see a spin-off or just a continuation where they stay in Lima?