"So, how's life?" Mike asked Matt when he picked him up that morning. "I tried to call and see if you wanted to come over for a little Assassin's Creed, but you weren't answering your phone."

"Sorry Bro…" Matt said a little distractedly.

"Everything okay, man?"

"Fine. I just…I think…I don't know, Mike…" Matt sighed. He knew he wasn't making sense, but Mike didn't seem to mind. "It's so messed up, you know?"

Mike nodded, even though he didn't really know what his best friend was talking about at all.

"I think I've gotta say something," Matt finally admitted.

"Say what, Matt?"

"I'm telling them at practice today."

Mike just nodded and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

Now things were starting to make sense.

"You don't have to worry about the glee guys, Matt," Mike reminded him. "They'll be cool about it."

"Oh, I know that. It's the rest of the McKinley population that worries me."

"It'll be fine. Just give them a few days to get over the shock. Then they'll move on to the next big scandal."

"I just wish that glee came at the beginning of the day. Then the waiting wouldn't be so bad."

"It'll be fine, Matt. Trust me."

Matt nodded. He wished he could believe Mike, but there was a big part of him that just couldn't buy that.

At all.

So far, Mike Chang's day was less-than-eventful. I mean, as uneventful as the day his best friend coming out of the closet could be. Most people wouldn't be able to tell there was anything going on with his unusually quiet companion, but Mike knew he was nervous as hell. That hand-shaking thing gave it away every time, and not even a good game of paper football during English class was going to make Matt feel better.

At least Matt was in a better mood. If Mike were honest with himself, other than the whole nervous thing, Matt seemed to be happier than he'd seen him in, well, pretty much ever. And he didn't have to ask his best friend why. Mike, for his part, was glad.

So he shouldn't have been exactly SURPRISED to find Kurt and Matt in a lip-lock in the locker room during fifth period, but that somehow wasn't on the top of the list of things he expected to witness that day.

He started to say something and get their attention, but it was fairly clear that those two were in their own little world, and so he just made his exit, and nearly ran into Sam Evans.

"Don't go in there," Mike warned.

"Why the hell not?"

"Uhhhhh, fumigating?" Mike said. But he wished his lying skills didn't suck as epically as they did, because it did nothing to stop Sam from barreling through the door.

"Shit!" Mike swore under his breath. He knew that Matt and Kurt were towards the back of the lockers. That was their only saving grace. If he texted Matt and let him know to get the hell out in time, maybe….

His fingers flew over the keyboard. He wanted to go in there more than anything and help Matt and Kurt out, because he knew that whatever Sam was going to do to them, it wasn't going to be good.

"Get the hell out of there, Bro. Douche-alert! Douche-alert!"

He pressed send. But not before Sam could be heard talking on the other side of the door.

He had two detentions already this semester. If he went in there, he was ninety-nine point nine percent positive that it would get him a one-way ticket to detention hall again. One more, and he'd be benched for the rest of the season. He didn't give a rat's ass about that.

Whatever was going to happen would happen. His best friend was worth it.

"Well, Rutherford, should I save you a spot on the McKinley Float at the Pride Day Parade?" Sam drawled.

Kurt froze, but Matt stepped forward. Sam continued to talk, though. "Wait until Jacob Ben-Israel gets this juicy little tidbit," Sam said, snapping their picture on his cell phone. "Get the guest-list ready for your coming out party, dude, because it's gonna be EPIC!"

"Sam! Don't!" Kurt pleaded.

"Who's gonna stop me?" Sam taunted, pressing a few buttons. "One little click, that's all it takes…Ohhhh man, this is going to be fun watching this particular shit-storm unfold! And I am the luckiest dude on the planet because I have the front seat! This is going to be AWESOME!"

"I am," Matt told him, stepping between Sam and Kurt. "Give me the phone," Matt ordered.

"Ummm, I'm thinking no," Sam replied. "You know with these new phones, you'd think that it wouldn't take as long to load graphics, but I guess technology STILL has a ways to go…"

"Give. Me. The. Phone," Matt repeated.

"Sam, please…" Kurt begged.

"Damn, Kurt, it's been awhile since I've heard you beg. Tell you what…I'll just unzip my pants, and you can get down on your knees, and maybe I can forget that the picture ever existed."

Kurt found himself nodding. "Tell Mr. Schue I'll be a little late," he said, eyes never leaving the floor.

"No…" Matt said in an almost-whisper. "Don't…I was going to tell them in Glee today anyway."

"No," Kurt shook his head. "Sam's trying to force your hand here and I'm not going to let that happen."

"I can't let you do this, Kurt…come on, let's just get out of here."

"I'll be fine. Just go!"

"I'm not leaving," Matt insisted.

"I think you are, actually," Mike said, suddenly bursting throught he door. His clenched fists and tense posture indicated he was ready to add his name to this particular fight, but his tone was still cool and even without even a hint of agitation.

With one swift motion, Mike's foot made contact with Sam's groin, making the blonde double over and drop his phone, which landed within a couple of inches from Kurt's foot, who took no time to squash it as though it were a bug.

"You owe me a new phone!"

"Send me the bill," Kurt said. "Come on, we'll all be late."

"THIS ISN'T OVER!" Sam shouted. "RUTHERFORD, GET READY TO BE FRONT PAGE NEWS!"

"I think it is," Matt said, looking over his shoulder as the three boys left.