(Author's note: More barely-modified quoting from 2x04, and a new connection between Jeff and the boys is revealed. -amy)

Finn slid into line behind Kurt in the cafeteria. He didn't look happy.

"Did you ask Sam to sing a duet with you?"

Kurt glanced back at Finn. "Yes?"

Finn dropped his voice to a hurt whisper. "I thought we were singing our duet together."

"Just for us. Not for the competition. Don't tell me you care about winning?"

"This isn't about you winning." He frowned. "Kurt, are you trying to get Sam to admit he's gay because of what I said to you?"

"So what if I am?" He took a fruit cup, wrinkled his nose and put it back. "God, I've gotten so spoiled with Noah's lunches…"

"You can't do this to him!"

"You're overreacting."

"You're painting a bull's-eye on his back. If he sings with you —"

Kurt turned to face him. "What? Everybody will know he isn't a total homophobe? He could sing with me even if he's not gay. And if he is, it's not like we're making out in the middle of the hallway."

Finn glanced behind him, but nobody was paying attention to them. "And if you win? Are you going to take him out on a date? Look, it's his decision. If he'd wanted to come out, he would have. You're just reacting to what Coach Beiste said. Can't you let him move at his own pace?"

"Noah's still on the football team, and he's still ridiculously popular. Your argument doesn't stand, Finn." Kurt made a brisk nod. "I asked Sam to sing with me. He said yes. If we win, I'll let him decide who to invite to Breadstix. And then we'll see what we see."

Finn watched glumly as Kurt took his nearly empty tray and flounced away to sit with Mercedes. Without Puck, lunch was now the worst part of his day. He scanned the cafeteria and found Santana and Brittany sitting with several other Cheerios.

"Well, if it isn't tall, athletic and dopey," Santana said. "You're losing in the tall and athletic department lately, though. I think Sam's taken your place."

"Not everything has to be a competition, Santana."

She hooted. "Are you serious? Of course everything's a competition. For example, isn't that Kurt sitting over there next to Sam? They're getting awfully snuggly. Puck's only been gone for, what, three days and already —"

"I need to ask you something," he said. "About Blaine."

Santana's smile slipped. "Blaine — who?"

"How many Blaines do you know? Your best friend from when you were a kid. Blaine Anderson, formerly of Catholic, now at Dalton Academy, star of the Warblers?"

Now she was staring at him. "What the hell, Finn? How do you know all that? Are you, like, a secret agent spy or what?"

"When's the last time you talked to him?"

"I don't know, Christmas? We hardly ever see each other. He was busy this summer, doing some stupid play."

"He did RENT in Cleveland. With Kurt, and Mr. Schue, and Toby."

"Holy shit," she breathed. She glanced back at Brittany. "Did you know about this?"

"Toby invited me and Mike to opening night," Britt said, eating a tater tot. "You were on that cruise with your dad."

"Well, dust my pants and call me a tortilla. What the fuck." Santana looked back up at Finn. All the teasing was gone. "He and Kurt, I bet they're buds now? I always thought they would get along."

"Kind of. It's a long story. Santana, Blaine is in some trouble."

Her gaze sharpened. "What is it? Is somebody giving him shit about being gay? No, they don't do that at his new enlightened school, do they?" He watched her face go white. "Is it the cocaine?"

"You know about that?" Finn said, his eyes widening.

"You know about that?" she echoed.

There's not much I don't know about Blaine. He gave her a faint smile. "I don't think you need to worry about him taking drugs anymore. But Blaine's father gave him an ultimatum about some other things. He's not allowed to see… anybody who means anything to him. No phone, no email. He's alone, and he's hurting. We need somebody to go to Dalton and visit. Somebody who knows him, and who can tell if he's doing what we think he's doing."

"And… what do you think he's doing?" she asked slowly.

Finn stared down at his uneaten lunch. Kurt was right; cafeteria food just didn't measure up to Puck's. "He's pretending to be fine. He's doing only what he's supposed to do, which is school and the Warblers. And he's convinced himself not to fight for anything more."

Her smile was wry. "Yeah, that sounds exactly like Blaine. He puts everything fun and enjoyable and worthwhile in a box labeled 'Things I Can't Have.' And now he's putting all his energy into school because that's what his father told him to do."

Finn swallowed on a dry throat. "You think that sounds like him?"

"Absolutely. He listens to his father. In Blaine's mind, if he's not a good boy, he's nothing."

The words hit Finn hard. He directed his eyes across the cafeteria, looking at anything other than Santana, while he tried to marshal his thoughts.

"Finn?" Santana sounded hesitant.

"Just a second," he muttered. He cleared his throat. "Okay."

"Blaine told me last year, he met a guy with a mohawk in a club in Dayton. Said he was some pretty hot shit. That was Puck, right?"

Finn nodded, willing his lip not to wobble. She sighed.

"Yeah. I thought so. You're telling me they've been hooking up all year?"

"Just since June," said Finn.

"And Kurt's okay with this?" She sounded incredulous.

"He's so okay with this, Santana." He touched her hand. "Will you go?"

"Why don't you go?" she demanded. "If he's so important to Puck."

"Because his dad won't let him see me, either."

"Blaine's a dolphin, too," said Brittany. "He's Finn's dolphin."

Santana's eyes widened. "Oh my fucking god." She gave him a vicious poke in the chest. "You and Blaine and Puck?"

"… And Kurt," he added. "But his dad doesn't know about Kurt, so he's still safe. Will you?"

"I can't believe he didn't tell me about this already!"

"Santana," Finn said.

"All right!" she snapped, throwing up her hands. "Fine. I'll go. Road trip to Westerville, Britt, after school."

He didn't exactly feel any better having told Santana about Blaine's situation, but he figured it was better than doing nothing. What he did feel was exhausted. When Rachel came to him and said, "Let's go practice our duet," all he could do was shake his head.

"Look," he said to her, "I'm sure we could totally win this thing. I just don't think I can do it right now. I can't think about winning. I can barely concentrate on school."

"Because of Puck?"

He nodded. She sighed, sinking down to sit in the seat beside him.

"I'm not really a nice person. I'm selfish. The fact is, I'm only really generous if there's something in it for me."

"Yeah, but I still like you."

"But you, you're so… kind, and open. Well, it's made me want to be a better person." She gave a decisive nod. "If we want to win at Nationals, then Sam has to win this contest. Okay? He has to feel like he belongs and, and the team has to believe in him."

Finn scrunched up his face. "Uh… you mean, in order to make somebody feel like they belong, we have to lie to them about how good they are? How is that being kind or open?"

"No, that's not what I…" She shook her head in desperation. "I was trying to help. I mean, I just wanted you to be impressed with me."

"Rachel, you're doing this because it'll help us win Nationals, so it doesn't really count as you doing something nice." He touched her shoulder gently. "Would you stop trying to be somebody you're not? You don't have to try to impress me. I already like you. And you don't have to try to throw anything to benefit Sam. Let him win because he's got a great voice. Which he does."

"Okay," she said, still startled, looking up into his face. "I— I'm sorry."

He kissed her, smiling at her astonished expression. "Thank you."

It was amazing how much better he felt after that. Just as he had last night, managing Kurt, it gave him a sense of being settled.

Coach Beiste was wrong, he thought defiantly. I don't need Carl. I need what I have - Kurt, and Rachel, just as they are.

"I really can make my own dinner, Kurt," his dad called from the couch.

"Absolutely not." Kurt carefully carried the tray table in from the kitchen and set it in front of his dad. "Sarah has delegated dinner to me while she's meeting with Holly, and then we're going to switch. Here you go: heart-healthy vegan carrot soup with whole grain croutons, and you'd better eat all of it. I'm so grateful Noah already had saffron in the cupboard."

His dad looked longingly at the table. "Can't I just sit over there? You could make a plaster cast of my butt with the cushions from this couch."

Kurt frowned at him. "You had a serious arrhythmia, Dad. The doctors say you need to rest until your stress test."

"Puckerman is my stress test," he muttered, letting Kurt tuck a napkin into the collar of his shirt. "No news, huh?"

"Nothing. I'm waiting, just as you said, and trying to distract myself. Finn talked to Santana about Blaine. They're old friends, and he asked her to visit him at Dalton to check on him."

His dad took a sip of the soup and seemed to deem it acceptable. "Is that a problem?

Kurt sighed. "We asked Dave and he said no. He's sure Blaine wouldn't want to see him."

"Maybe Dave has a point."

Now he frowned. "You're siding with him? Is it because — because of what he called Blaine at the park?"

"I don't know anything about that, but I guess I'm not surprised to hear it. Dave hasn't exactly had the best track record, has he? I think Blaine gets to decide if he doesn't want to be friends with Dave anymore, if Dave was being a jerk to him." He took another spoonful of soup. "And doesn't Dave have kind of a thing for Blaine?"

"He used to. That might be ancient history by now." Kurt shrugged. "Although I doubt it. Based on what I know about Dave, he doesn't really let go of things."

"Yeah." His dad waved his spoon at Kurt. "You got to understand, Kurt, that most guys don't know how to deal with their own feelings."

He wrinkled his nose. "So you're saying I shouldn't expect Dave to show Blaine any concern because he's feeling too much? He apologized to Blaine at RENT. I thought that meant something. Shouldn't I expect him to step up and be an actual friend now?"

Burt sighed. "I'm not saying he shouldn't. I'm saying, maybe you're pushing him too hard to do what you want him to do — trying to take advantage of him because he's useful to you. You care about Dave's feelings, too, right?"

"Of course I do," snapped Kurt. "Dad, It wasn't too long ago I was feeling stuck in my own closet. But he has me, and Noah, who came out first. We're doing all right. Why can't he enjoy that? He could, I don't know, walk hand in hand down the hall with a person that he likes. He could slow dance at his prom."

"Come here." His dad reached out and gathered him close. "I'm sure he appreciates that you want those things for him. You just have to accept that maybe Dave's not as open and brave as you are."

"I don't think that's actually true, though," said Kurt. "I've been getting to know him, Dad, and he's really brave. I think he wants to be like that."

"Well," his dad said gently, "maybe it's that he really wants it with Blaine, and if he can't have that, it's not worth it."

It must have been the combination of his dad's words and his snuggling that made him cry. They sat there together on the couch together until Sarah came downstairs and joined them.

"Your turn," she said, snuggling up to his dad on the other side. "Holly's waiting for you upstairs on the green couch."

Kurt wiped his face and stood up. "Okay, but… honestly, I think I already got my therapy for the night."

"This place is like a rat's maze," Santana snapped, threading her BMW into the parking spot outside Blaine's dorm. "All these one-way streets? It's like they don't even want people to drive. They just want everyone to walk around in their fancy uniforms and pretend they're in a GQ magazine ad."

"I think it's nice." Britt surveyed the immaculate lawn. Rows of flowers were still blooming along the ivy-covered walls. "Maybe we could come here."

"Boys only, Britt. Anyway, we're totally in charge of McKinley. Why'd we want to leave?"

Brittany's smile was placid. "Wouldn't you like to be the only two girls at an all-boys' school?"

"Point," Santana admitted. "But no cheerleading. And, I hate to admit it, I'd miss Glee."

She shrugged. "Lord Tubbington wouldn't want to live in a dorm anyway."

The boy at the desk opened a ledger and showed them where to sign in. "Visitors can stay until nine," he said. "Who are you here to see?"

"Blaine Anderson."

He pointed around the corner. "Third floor, room 308. Up the stairs and to the right."

Nobody seemed surprised to see girls in the dorm, but they did get a lot of smiles. Santana would have enjoyed it more if she hadn't already been worried about Blaine.

When they knocked, they were met at the door by a blond boy with a Bieber cut. He blinked at them, keeping the door mostly closed. "Can I help you?"

"We're here to see Blaine," she said. "I'm an old friend. Is he here?"

"Santana? Is that you?" Blaine pulled the door the rest of the way open, and gave them both a broad, astonished smile. "Brittany! You didn't tell me you were coming out to Westerville!"

"No, it was meant to be a surprise." She hugged Blaine, then glared a challenge at the blond boy, who was still blocking the door. "Can we come in?"

Everything seemed normal from what Santana could tell, other than the ridiculous amount of gel on Blaine's curls, but she wasn't about to judge his fashion trends. The blond boy, however, whose name was Jeff, was watching them both warily as they talked about their classes and how junior year was going.

"It's harder," he said. "Academically, it's a lot more challenging than Catholic. I'm trying to focus on school, but it's not easy, not when I have boxing and the Warblers."

"And a boyfriend?" Santana added brightly.

Jeff's glare intensified. Blaine, on the other hand, just shook his head, dipping his eyes like he was laughing.

"I don't have a boyfriend," he said.

"Well, somebody you're dating. You are dating, right?"

He shook his head again. "Santana, I don't know if you realize the pressure I'm under here. Dalton's not like Catholic was. I have to focus on my studies if I want to make it here. PSATs are coming up soon."

"You're avoiding the question," she said, but Jeff reached out and grabbed Blaine's arm, tugging him out of Santana's sights. He pressed a couple dollars into his hand.

"Here. Why don't you go down to the pop machine and get your friends some cold drinks."

"Sure," said Blaine obligingly. "Britt, you still drinking Dr. Pepper?"

"Dr. Howell made me switch to diet," she said. "He said my teeth had scales on them. Maybe I'm turning into a mermaid?"

Santana thought Blaine might have blanched at Dr. Howell's name, but that didn't make any sense, so she ignored it. She waved a hand. "Diet Sprite for me."

"I know," he said, smiling. "You've been drinking it since you were ten. Be right back, ladies."

Jeff watched Blaine head out the door. Then he turned to face them, his expression hardening.

"What are you trying to do here?" he demanded.

"If you must know, we're here at the request of one Finn Hudson," Santana said.

That brought Jeff up short. "Finn asked you to come?"

"He said I know Blaine better than anybody. Which is true. We've been friends since we were five. My assessment: this was Blaine, being normal, and you being an asshole."

"This?" Jeff scoffed. "This was Blaine trying too hard. That's all he does anymore."

"He didn't seem any different than usual," said Brittany. Jeff shook his head, scowling.

"He's not letting himself relax, ever. It's like he knows he can't do it on his own, so he's just not going to even try. He's not allowed to drink or anything else. And the other ways I can help him, he won't let me get close enough to let me in."

That didn't make much sense to Santana either, but she nodded. "Finn said something about… his boyfriend. You know about him?"

Jeff frowned at her. "Do you? I'm not about to out anybody."

"Well, he told me about somebody, a long time ago. But maybe Blaine doesn't want to talk about him. Maybe it was just a fling, a night at the club."

"You're talking about Puck."

She glanced at Britt, who immediately reached out and took her hand. "What if I am?"

"Well, I notice he's not the one who told you to come."

Santana rolled her eyes. "That might be because he's in juvie."

"Oh." Jeff looked completely confused. "I didn't know that. What did he do?"

"What didn't he do? Puck's the baddest of the bad boys. Something about robbing an ATM."

Jeff hesitated. "Look, I really don't want to make this any worse than it already is. Here's what I know: Blaine did RENT this summer in Cleveland, and he started dating these guys, and he told me he was happy. Blaine only pretends to be happy. He's never actually happy, except apparently he was. And then his dad said he couldn't see Finn or Puck anymore, and he — he went back to this pretend-happy thing. Only it's all the time." He shrugged. "That's it."

"Here you go," they heard from the door. Blaine smiled as he passed Britt and Santana the cans of pop. "Heads up." He tossed a Coke at Jeff, who caught it one-handed, and opened a ginger ale for himself. This time Santana made eye contact with Jeff before opening her mouth, feeling like an idiot for asking this dork in a blazer for permission to say anything, but he nodded.

"So Britt tells me you did RENT this summer?" she asked.

"It was just a little part, but yeah, it was great. Your choir director and his, um." Blaine bit his lip. "I don't want to give away any secrets."

"It's okay," said Brittany, patting his arm. "It's his real hair."

"We know about Toby, if that's what you mean?" Santana added.

Blaine nodded in relief. "Yes. I learned so much from both of them. You're very lucky."

"And you met Kurt."

She watched carefully as Blaine's eyes went thoughtful. "Yes, he was in the swing cast too, wasn't he?"

"You don't remember?"

"Well, you know. There were a lot of people involved in that production." He sipped his ginger ale calmly. Santana gritted her teeth.

"So what's with all the hair gel, Blainers?"

He laughed. "I'm trying a new look. Something a little more… contained. What do you think?"

"I think it looks ridiculous. You do know most girls would kill for your hair?"

"Oh, well," he said, with an offhanded wave. "I'm sure I'll come up with something else next season."

She could only tolerate so much small talk about Dalton. Whenever she would try to redirect the conversation to his father or his summer, Blaine would find a way to bring up something else. Eventually she stood up.

"We'd better get going. It's a long way back to Lima."

"Thank you so much for coming, both of you," Blaine said effusively, giving them hugs. "I'm not sure when I'm going to be visiting my mom again, but I'll call you if I'm back in town. Tell Will — Mr. Schuester I said hello, all right?"

While Santana put on her coat, Brittany ran her fingers over a framed photo of Jeff with an older girl. The girl had wispy blonde hair, and she'd been caught in the middle of a laugh.

"You know her too?" Britt said.

"Well, she's my sister. I'd say I know her pretty well?" Jeff gave her a quizzical look. Santana touched his arm and shook her head.

"Don't question it," she said. "Britt has her own way of seeing things."

"There's a picture of her on Puck's phone," said Britt to Santana as they walked down the stairs. "With the lady with the mohawk. And the tall man with the red beard. I think he might be Santa's Scottish brother?"

"Look, Britt, forget that. This is important." Santana stopped on the grand curving staircase and grabbed Britt's hands until she was looking at her. "Something is wrong with Blaine. I don't know if I believe what Finn told me about… all of them, together, but… I have to try to figure this out. I'm pretty sure Blaine's not going to be any help, and God help me if I have to talk to Kurt about it."

Britt pursed her lips. "What about Blaine's other best friend?"

Santana shook her head impatiently. "Blaine has a million friends at Dalton, and none of them know anything about him. That Jeff guy in there was a douche."

"Not here," said Britt. "At home. Davey."

"Dave Karofsky?"

"You're hurting my ears." Brittany took Santana's hand and tugged her toward the lobby. "Come on. If we hurry, we can get home in time to watch Mad Men before you rehearse River Deep, Mountain High with Mercedes."

Online: Jake, Mar.
Login 2010-10-20 20:09:03: Sarah. Mood: annoyed.

J: okay, Sar, whats annoying

S: My stupid brother.

J: whatd I do now?

S: Not you. Usually it would be Timmy who'd win most annoying. No, this is about Noah, who is being extra stupid right now.

M: This is the brother who lives with you?

S: That's him. He wins the Super Stupid Plus One medal for the month. And trust me, I would tell him that to his face, so it doesn't count as gossip. Can I talk about him here?

J: everything we say here is confidential, sarah

S: I guess? I wanted to check. Because Ricky's in Columbus and Katie's in Akron and Ry's in Dayton and Jake's in Mansfield, but me and Marley are both in Lima, at the same school, in all these classes together. That might make it extra weird if she suddenly knows weird stuff about my family. Which, I gotta say, is super weird in the best way.

M: Please call me Mar, Sarah, with pronouns they, them. And it won't be weird knowing about your brother. You already know my mom, and I talk about her all the time.

S: Sorry, Mar. Forgot about the pronouns. And who's your mom?

M: Millie Rose, she works in the high school cafeteria. She said she knows your brother.

S: Huh. No, I didn't know that. But cool. That's a great superpower to have, feeding kids.

M: *considers the validity of that as a superpower*

J: so what did Noah do now

S: He left town. Again. This time he took off with our dad to Adventure Camp, somewhere in Oregon, for this religious retreat. But our dad lied and told the high school he's in juvie.

J: you dont know where he is?

S: Dude, Adventure Camp, that's all I know. That's not the big deal, though. The big deal is that it's almost his one-year anniversary with his boyfriends and he's not even around to celebrate it.

J: what happened to his phone

M: Wait, boyfriends?

S: He turned off his phone.

J: your right, that does suck

M: Both his boyfriends have the same anniversary? Do they know about each other?

S: Mar, this is part of the awesome weirdness. We all live together. Boyfriend number one is his best friend. Boyfriend number two is my foster dad's other kid. Boyfriend number one's mom and boyfriend number two's dad are gonna get married and adopt me and Noah.

M: *speechless*

S: That's a good look on you, Mar.

M: Hey!

J: I'm cracking up right now

S: Kurt thinks something nefarious is going on because Noah promised not to leave. I just think he's being a dork.

J: hey did you know dork means whale penis

M: This is one of those examples of you being insensitive, Jake.

J: sorry, yeah. anything I can do, sarah?

S: Not unless you can magically find Noah and tell him to get his ass home.

J: well theres my mom, shes deputy sheriff. I bet she could do something.

S: Jake. That is BRILLIANT.

M: Jake's superpower is coming through with just the right ideas at the most surprising moments.

S: What's your superpower, Mar?

M: I don't think I have one?

J: totally their voice

M: You've never heard me sing, Jake, but I'm blushing anyway.

S: Mar, before I met Holly and talked to you here, I would have said your superpower was annoying the shit out of everybody, but now I'm thinking it's your ability to make your friends feel heard.

M: I'm… both distressed and touched by that statement, Sarah. Does that mean I'm your friend?

S: You are now.

Kurt waited until Sam was out of the shower and dressed before approaching him, because there were some things that were stalkery even between gay men.

"I'm setting you free," he told Sam with a conciliatory smile. "You can do your duet with someone else in Glee. Someone that the world deems more appropriate."

Sam paused in toweling his hair. "Did I do something to offend you?"

"No, no," Kurt assured him. "It's not you, it's me. You've been honorable, actually, and I wish you the best, but I've realized that I need to sing with someone who inspires some passion in me."

He nodded soberly. "The last I heard, guys were kind of inspirational to you."

"Yes, I'm gay, but that's not exactly what I was talking about."

Sam leaned in a little closer. His expression was intense, all serious concern. "Are you sure there's nothing I did wrong? Because I gave my word. In my world, that's that."

"You're fine, Sam," Kurt said. Sam smiled, straightening up.

"Okay. Any suggestions for me, then?"

Kurt smiled back. "Well… they make special shampoo for color-treated hair."

"I don't dye my hair," Sam called after him as he walked away.

Santana slid into the seat across from Finn at lunch and fixed him with her stare. "Okay, Hudson. We need to have a talk."

He pushed aside his lunch tray and leaned eagerly toward her. "Did you see Blaine?"

"Hold your horses. I'm going to go back to that part where you claimed Blaine was dating you and Kurt and Puck. Is this actually true?"

Finn glanced around to make sure nobody was nearby. "Yeah. It's true."

"And you'd say that what you guys had was serious? Not just a summer thing?"

Finn nodded again.

Santana leaned back and crossed her arms, looking like she'd bitten into something sour. "Well, that's bad news, because Blaine had zero things to say about having a boyfriend of any kind. Or anything at all about you, or Puck. And while he did agree to having been in RENT with Mr. Schue and Toby, he barely registered my comments about Kurt. So that means one of two things." She tapped her foot. "Either you're full of shit, or he's got some serious issues in that little curly-haired brain of his."

He stared down at his lunch tray, his stomach curdling. "Shit."

"Are you declaring the first one to be true?" she said louder. "Because I seriously doubt it."

"No, no, I was just… hoping it wasn't like that. You don't think maybe he could have been pretending, trying to fake out somebody who could have been spying for his dad?"

"There is no way in hell I would ever spy for that hijo de puta," she spat. "Blaine knows it. He trusts me. That — what I saw? That was as real as he's going to get right now."

Finn closed his eyes and sighed, nodding. "Okay. Thank you for going."

He told himself it shouldn't have been a surprise. Whatever Blaine had done to protect himself was apparently working far too well.

He just wants to be a good boy, he thought, clenching his teeth. How am I going to tell him he's bad for doing that?

In Glee, Santana and Mercedes killed it with their duet of "River Deep, Mountain High." The applause was tumultuous.

"I think we might as well give up the duet contest now," Mike stage-whispered to Tina, who definitely looked worried. Then Kurt raised his hand.

"Mr. Schue, if I may?"

He nodded. "You may."

Finn watched in astonishment as Kurt came down to the floor. Kurt hadn't said one word to him about singing a duet, and yet here he was, poised in the crook of the piano.

"As many of you know, I have a built-in duet partner, but due to sensitivities I'd rather not get into at the moment, he's not here for me to sing with him."

Mr. Schue looked around. "Okay… so who are you going to sing a duet with?"

At Kurt's nod, Brad stood up, and Kurt rounded the piano to sit where he'd been. "Well, thanks to the miracles of modern technology, he doesn't have to be here physically. One year ago, Noah came to my house and sang this song to me. Now, he's part of my household. More than that, he's part of my family. No matter what happens. I don't want to let this opportunity go by without honoring that. He means more to me than just about anything in the world — including winning this competition."

Kurt gave Finn a tight smile. It might have been a smile of apology, because Finn already felt like the bottom had been yanked out of his stomach. Rachel was watching him with uncharacteristic concern, and reached out to take his hand and squeeze it. He squeezed back without really thinking about it.

Then Brad pressed a button on the machine in front of him, and suddenly the sound of the opening guitar riff to Puck's date night CD filled the room. While Finn's heart constricted, Kurt played an accompaniment on the piano — and they heard Puck begin to sing.

A hard knock
A cold clock
Ticking off my time

A long look
But no luck
Couldn't seem to find
Or unwind
Into peace of mind
While I was trying…

Kurt played the piano accompaniment along with Puck on his guitar, but he didn't join in singing the harmony with Puck until the second verse. Finn was sure he had never heard Kurt sing this particular song before, and it struck him like a blow, especially the lines in the bridge about I'm enough for your love and that thought sets me free.

When Rachel made a little noise of discomfort, he realized he was crushing her tiny hand in his. He let go and grabbed the edge of the chair instead, swallowing hard. The last thing he wanted to do was steal the spotlight by bursting into tears.

Other than applause, the rest of the room was quiet when he was done. Finn could see Kurt's own eyes were filled and spilling over onto his cheeks, but he maintained his composure at the piano.

"Hey, I bet he'll be glad to hear about this when he comes back from juvie," Sam spoke up heartily, clearly trying for optimism. "And happy anniversary, man."

"Thanks," Kurt said, with a distracted smile.

"I'm sorry I said that about Puck being stupid, Kurt," said Brittany. "He wasn't being stupid to tell you how he felt. Even back then. Even if it was hard." She sent a pointed look at Santana, who was ignoring her.

"Kurt, I'm not sure that was exactly what I had in mind when I asked for a duet, but…" Mr. Schue nodded. "It was just right."

"Well, not every duet is a traditional one," Kurt said briskly. "I think it's important to honor the ones that… have more sides than an ordinary box."

It felt like half of Glee turned at that moment to look right at Finn. He swallowed, trying not to look back at any of them.

"Finn, I…" Rachel began, but Finn just shook his head. When Mr. Schue let them go, he walked out to the hallway to wait for Kurt, who was being mobbed by well-wishers. His head was spinning as he counted.

Santana knows, and Britt. Mercedes. Quinn. Rachel. Mr. Schue and Brad. That's more than half.

Kurt eventually emerged from the choir room. When he saw Finn, he came over to him, but slowed when he saw the expression on his face.

"Had you been planning that all along?" Finn asked, trying to keep his voice even.

"Finn," said Kurt.

"More than half of those people already know about us. I don't know, the way people talk, maybe all of them by now. There's no reason that couldn't have been us, doing that duet for Puck together. But you didn't even bother to tell me you were gonna do it." He got right down in Kurt's face. It would have looked like ordinary intimidation from any distance. "I asked you to do a duet with me, Kurt. And you said no, we can't — and then you did it with somebody who's not even here?"

"You're the one who jumped to plan one with Rachel," Kurt snapped back. "Don't even pretend you considered asking me at the beginning of the assignment. And you and Noah have sung countless songs together, which you and I have never done."

"You think it would have played this way if Puck hadn't disappeared?" His voice was rising into the hallway teeming with students on their way out the door, and he barely cared. "Hell, no. This would have been business as usual. I'm the brother. The best friend. Never what I am."

"That's not what I want, Finn!" Kurt grabbed his arms and held him there. "Would you get a grip? You don't get to pretend this is my choice."

"Way to make a spectacle of yourselves," called Lauren from across the hall. Kurt let go of Finn's arms and huffed as she approached.

"Spare us the commentary," Finn said, still glaring at Kurt.

"Yeah, well, I think you're gonna remember that you're both on the same side when you hear what I discovered." She held up a printout of a web page. "I looked up Adventure Camp in Oregon."

Kurt snatched the page out of her hands and began scanning it. "What is this?"

"Turns out your Adventure Camp doesn't exist," she said grimly. "It's a front for another organization. That page there, that's a record from Cultwatch."

"Oh my god." Kurt's face was ashen. He clutched Finn's arm again, this time for support.

"Yeah. It's a conversion camp. People have made reports about them numerous times. That page lists the worst of it, including experiences of psychological and physical torture and abuse."

"Conversion camp?" Finn echoed. "I think his dad already did that, if he didn't already believe."

"Converting gay kids, Finn," Kurt said. His voice sounded wooden. "They use church dogma and persuasive, charismatic experiences to try to scare kids out of being attracted to the same sex. But — there's no way Noah would be fooled by that."

"It's not just fooling, Kurt." Lauren was pointing to something in the third paragraph. "This is hands-on aversion therapy. They're doing all kinds of things to them there."

"Where?" Kurt demanded. "Where did it say the camp is? We have to tell my dad." He swallowed thickly. "I think I'm going to be sick."

Finn picked up Kurt's messenger bag and rushed him outside to get him some fresh air. He turned to Lauren, who was walking along beside them. "Where did you find this?"

"I told you, online. There are web pages for all kinds of organizations. Those J4J folks, by the way, they're not messing around. They definitely have an agenda, and it ain't love and tolerance."

Kurt appeared to have decided he was not going to be sick after all. He paused beside them and reclaimed his bag from Finn, his face grim and set.

"Can I take this?" he asked Lauren, holding up the printout.

"Be my guest," Lauren said, gesturing at him. "I already send the same information to Sarah in email."

"Come on." Finn tugged him toward the car. "I'll drive home."

Kurt was rereading the paper a third time as Finn buckled his seat belt. Finally, he gently removed the printout from of Kurt's hands and laid it on the back seat.

"I'm sorry," Finn said. "About what I said about your song. I don't really think you don't care about us being out."

"No." Kurt sniffled and wiped his eyes. "No, that's not how I feel at all." He looked up at Finn, and his face was scared. "This is really bad, Finn. Noah's impressionable under the best circumstances. And in a place like that…"

"I know."

"We need to get him out of there."

"I don't know if there's anything that's changed, though. Like his social worker said, we don't have any control. He's still with his dad, and his dad is still…" Finn choked a little on the words. "He's still in charge of Puck."

"No," Kurt said. He sounded desperate. "No, he's not. We are in charge of him."

"All right, baby." Finn started the ignition with a sigh. "All right."