Author's Note: Hey guys! It's been a while, sadly. How is everyone? You good? Doing well? I hope so.

Thank you so much for all your spectacular reviews, they mean the world to me, and all you guys who read my stories are totally awesome. Completely healed up, and done with my car shit btw. So let's get to some updating, huh?

Happy Reading!

Again, no beta. All mistakes are my own.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, nothing, nothing. No profit made etc. See Chapter 1 for more elaborate disclaimer.

~C.J.

(Chapter 37)

You know, if there was one thing I didn't miss, it was all the drama and gossip that surrounded New Directions. ~KEH

Rough day? –Blaine

P.S. xoxo –Blaine

Kurt smiled, always loving when Blaine was in the mood to be adorable.

A bit. McKinley's newspaper, The Muckraker, was revived and apparently fabricated lies are what pass as hard-hitting news around here. ~KEH

I'm kind of afraid to ask –Blaine

I'm even more afraid to answer. ~KEH

It's just a school newspaper. How bad can it be? –Blaine

Fleetwood Mac's Rumours' album bad. ~KEH

Wait…like relationships are actually in jeopardy over this. –Blaine

Understatement, but essentially, yeah. I seriously think Arty and Brittney are over. ~KEH

Everyone is saying he called her stupid. ~KEH

:( oh no, but Brittney is so nice. Why would he do that? –Blaine

I don't know, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with Santana and Brittney being totally in love with each other. ~KEH

*gasp* say whaaaat? –Blaine

Tell me about it. Nothing is sacred here. ~KEH

Hm… -Blaine

What? ~KEH

Isn't what we're doing now technically gossip? –Blaine

…~KEH

Kurt? –Blaine

Blaine. ~KEH

Shut up. ~KEH

:3 –Blaine

Kurt rolled his eyes. Honestly not that upset Blaine called him on his gossiping. He's hung out with girls for the better part of his life. Gossiping has become second nature to him.

Right. ~KEH

:D –Blaine

Oh, Warbler practice. Gotta go. Call you tonight? –Blaine

The pale boy bit his lip unsurely, looking over at Sam in the choir room.

Sorry, hun. I can't tonight. ~KEH

._. –Blaine

I'm working late at the tire shop with my dad. He looked a little run down the other day, so I just wanted to give him an extra hand. ~KEH

Oh how he hated lying to his boyfriend.

:( That's sweet. It's really nice of you to help out your dad like that. –Blaine

Uhuh, maybe you can help out your mom at the Playhouse every now and then too. ~KEH

Yeah, maybe. Um…we'll still text each other goodnight right? –Blaine

Most definitely. I'll talk to you later, okay? ~KEH

Okay –Blaine

Even through text, Kurt could hear the melancholy in his voice. He almost texted back to explain what was really going on, but one more look at Sam, and Kurt knew it wasn't his place. Sam had caught the glasz-eyed boy glancing his way, the blonde smiling softly, and nodding at him in a friendly manner. Contrary to his gossiping ways, there were just some things a person didn't go flapping his gums about.

But the lying thing? Specifically, the lying to his boyfriend thing? Yeah, that sucked.

Kurt skimmed through his French textbook at his locker. Going over some of the more difficult terms for the quiz they were having next class.

"Stop it."

He didn't even look up, more preoccupied with conjugations and pronunciations. It's not that he was unprepared. Kurt just liked to brush up every now and then.

Stop what?

Kurt looked up once he was satisfied that what he'd previously thought had been correct. Rachel seemed oblivious to his disinterest in her. "I am begging you. Sam is cute, but he is not worth losing Blaine over."

…excuse you?

He blinked a couple of times while he mentally recovered from the ridiculousness of that statement. "Oh, how I've missed your insanity."

I really haven't.

"He's wearing your jacket, Kurt!" She hissed.

I'm impressed that you were able to remember any of my past wardrobe choices.

"I remember that jacket. You wore it April of last year. You said it was your Earth Day jacket because it was made of recycled hemp."

The one time you've ever had an eye for anything other than owl sweaters and leg warmers. Congratulations.

Rachel took a deep breath, then calmed down a bit to explain her rationalizations slowly. "I know how these things work. I remember when Finn and I used to date, sometimes he would leave his letterman jacket at my house and I'd wear it the next day."

Kurt was anything, but amused. "Okay, you need to bone up on your Fleetwood Mac-ology. When they made Rumours, they weren't speaking to each other."

Not even "Pass the nondairy creamer."

"They only spoke about the music." He was actually pretty proud of himself for putting that look of confusion on Rachel's face. "And it was that focus that allowed them to make their masterpiece."

She huffed, "You're deflecting."

No, I'm being a team player.

The young boy sighed, "Any minute spent on this vicious, hurtful and hateful gossip is a minute taken away from preparing for nationals."

Especially when the gossip happens to revolve around me.

He shrugged at Rachel before walking off towards his next class, having convinced himself that was going to be the end of that conversation. However, Rachel had other plans.

The girl is gonna drive me to drink. ~KEH

I'm assuming Rachel. Care to talk about it? –Blaine

I don't even want to THINK about it. Can we just meet soon, after school maybe? I don't think I can wait for the weekend. I'm seriously missing you, and I could use a break from the all the Glee drama. ~KEH

How about tomorrow at the Lima Bean, say 4:30? –Blaine

You read my mind. :) ~KEH

The chestnut haired boy stared down at his cell phone confusedly, still trying to decipher Blaine's sudden cancelation.

Hey. Not feelin well. Just gonna go home. –Blaine

Aw, my poor Blainey. Do you want me to come over? Can I bring you anything? ~KEH

I'll talk to you tomorrow –Blaine

Then nothing. Kurt texted some more, called, even left a voicemail to make sure his boyfriend was okay, but Blaine still wasn't responding. It was with this confusion that Kurt entered his house, haphazardly dropping his bag by the coatrack and still staring at his phone to see if maybe Blaine would decide to answer one of his many inquiries. They never cut off communication before bedtime. They always said goodnight to each other, texted to make sure the other got home okay. Like, seriously.

What the frick?

"Well, well, well." Finn drawled, stuffing a potato chip into his mouth. "Look who finally decided to come home." Another chip was tossed into his mouth. "Visit any motels lately?"

Oh Gaga, not you too.

"Finn, you're not seriously buying into this Muckraker crap, are you?" Kurt put a hand on his hip and cocked it to the side. This was getting flat out stupid. "And for you information, not that I need to justify my whereabouts to you, I was on my way to the Lima Bean."

"Why, does Sam know your coffee order too?" Finn snapped.

Low. Blow.

His jaw dropped, cheeks coloring angrily at the statement. "THERE'S NOTHING GOING ON BEWTEEN ME AND SAM!" Kurt defended.

Has everyone lose their minds?

"Then why were you there at that motel last night? And don't try to deny it! Me and Rachel SAW you." Finn said.

Kurt groaned, covering his face with his hands. "Finn, it's not what you think. Yes, I was there with Sam the other night, but not because we were fooling around or whatever." He dropped his hands and sighed, "If I could explain to you everything, I would. But Sam asked me not to tell. Just like you told me not to tell Rachel that you actually made out with her, not Blaine."

The taller of the two snorted. "Uhuh, sure."

UGGGHHH!

"It's true!"

"Oh, yeah? Then where've you been?"

It is like talking to brick wall…

"I was supposed to be meeting Blaine, you dolt. You remember, my boyfriend, about this tall, dazzling smile, dapper as can be and too cute to boot? Hmm?" Kurt reminded. His arms flailing as he made gestures about his boyfriend's qualities.

"Really? How come you aren't there now?" His brother asked, more chips making its way into his mouth.

Are you literally going to give me the third degree the entire night?

Kurt pinched the bridge of nose, trying to calm down. "He's sick. At least, I think he is." Recalling the cryptic texts he received from Blaine, he looked down at his silent phone again.

This is so unlike him.

"Well, now I know you're lying. Rachel just saw him earlier. She didn't mention anything about him looking sick." Finn smirked, feeling smug at catching his brother in a lie.

What?

The smaller boy went rigid, before very slowly looking back up towards the other. "Finn, what did you do?"

Finn Christopher Hudson, I swear if you did anything…

At Kurt's desperate look, Finn actually deflated a little. "Um…I didn't. Rachel—"

"What did Rachel do?!"

"She might have…snuck out of Glee early, and gone to Dalton?" He frowned, sheepishly shoving a chip into his mouth.

No, no, no, no, PLEASE no.

Kurt stepped real close to Finn, "What? Why? Why would she do that!" He was becoming a bit hysterical.

Wait. Wait a minute. Is that why…?

His eyes were becoming misty, but he fought that back in order to show Finn his texts. "Is this why Blaine is ignoring me?" He poked Finn in the chest when the other boy didn't respond right away, just stared at the phone. "Did you two really tell Blaine that I was cheating on him?" Kurt's voice cracked at the end.

H-How can he even think that of me?

"Look, I'm sorry. But it's not cool, dude. You're my brother and I love you, but someone had to tell Blaine. That guy really cares about you, more than you know, and it's not fair to him. I would've wanted someone to tell me—"

"EXCEPT I'M NOT CHEATING ON BLAINE WITH ANYONE!" He screeched, chest constricting a bit. Kurt might be on the verge of hyperventilating. "I'm your brother, how can—how can you not believe me!"

Ohgoshohgoshohgosh.

"I don't know! It's not like I told Rachel to do it. She just texted me to see where you were after she'd already given him the pictures." Finn tried to explain.

P-Pictures? There are PICTURES?!

He was going to faint. He was SO going to faint. "You gave my boyfriend pictures of me with another guy and said I was cheating on him?" Kurt asked incredulously. "Are. You. On. CRACK?!"

"I didn't know she was gonna do that! I totally thought Quinn was cheating on me with Sam, not yo—"

"NO. Not another word. Not another sound from you." He warned Finn, looking scarier than the taller boy had ever seen him in his life. Kurt ran his hands through his hair as he paced and walked around in circles. "I don't understand. I don't UNDERSTAND! You know me. We live together. How can you believe, for even a second, that I could cheat on Blaine? I would NEVER do that to him…"

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.

Finn grew somber, hugging the bowl of chips to his chest like a teddy bear. "I never thought Quinn would cheat on me, or Rachel. But I was wrong, they both did."

So now everyone's a cheater?

"I never did. I've never even cheated on a test. Why do I have to pay for YOUR girlfriends' mistakes?" He threw his hands in the air. "Geez, Finn. I know you and Quinn are having problems, but that's no reason to start stirring up drama in my relationship."

Silence passed between them. The only sounds were of Kurt's ragged breaths slowly coming under control, and of Finn attempting to quietly nibble his snack. The crunches were deafening. "You…you aren't messing around with Sam, are you?" Finn asked quietly, realization finally dawning on him.

Heck no.

"No, I'm not." Kurt let out a breath of relief, even quirking his lips up at the sides slightly. He could never find it in himself to stay mad at Finn for long. No matter what the big lug did.

Of course cheating would be the first thing he thinks of. He's had two girls cheat on him already.

Kurt rolled his eyes, "I should really be more mad at you for thinking so low of me." He raised an eyebrow.

Finn had enough sense to look guilty. "I'm sorry, little brother."

"You are going to make it up to me. You are SO going to make it up to me. And Blaine, you really need to make it up to him too."

"I know. I know. I get it. Do you need me to like, drive you over to his house or something? Ya know, so I can explain. Clear your name?"

Finn was actually upset at the thought of me hurting Blaine. It's kind of sweet how much my stepbrother likes my boyfriend.

Kurt smiled at the thought.

He's come a long way since the lamp incident.

He contemplated for a moment about Finn's offer, and then looked at his phone. He sighed once he came to a decision, "No, better let him cool off for a bit. If I know Blaine, he's prone to jumping to conclusions more than you are. I'll go over on Friday. By then he should be willing to talk to me."

I hope.

Finn nodded, feeling better knowing that his brother wasn't a cheating McCheater. But then, "So if you and Sam weren't doing the dirty, what were y'all doing?"

Kurt responded by slapping the bowl out of his hands.

I'm swaying.

She jeopardizes my relationship.

And I'm still swaying.

Damn her talent.

"…a love song to my guy?"

Oh, crap. What'd I miss?

"You're such a hypocrite! You Little Miss Perfect Prom Queen!"

On second thought, never mind. I don't even want to know.

"You're a cheater who cheats in cheap motels with Sam." Rachel hmphed.

Ugh, not this again.

"Nothing is going on between Sam and I." Quinn looked as fed up with this nonsense as Kurt.

"Enough, guys." Mr. Shue said to try and end the conversation, but failing miserably.

This…has gone way too far.

"You know, I blame Sam for all this."

Not you too, Satan.

"And Rachel too, I blame her."

"What did I do!?" Rachel shrilled.

At this point, what didn't you do?

"I'm sure you did something."

Where to begin…

"See, I'm with Santana. Why doesn't Sam have anything to say about this?" Zizes pointed out.

…and who are you? Why are you in this conversation?

"Guilt."

Oh my, Puck?! Really?!

"Seriously, dude, what you're doing is not cool. They both have boyfriends." Like Puck had any room to talk.

Why do you even care? You sleep everyone AND their moms!

"Shut up!" Sam shouted.

Uh oh…

"I'm not messing around with Quinn or Kurt or any one of those guys. They're just helping me." He finished off a little more quietly.

Sam…no, don't.

Mercedes snorted. "Oh, is that what we're calling it now?"

You too, Cedes? You too?

"Hold on. How were they helping you out?" Mr. Shue questioned, because heaven forbid any member of the New Directions kept some sort of secret from everybody.

Kurt and Quinn made eye contact with each other, shaking their heads sadly when they realized that nobody was going to let up on Sam.

He shouldn't have to answer to these guys.

"Kurt was bringing me clothes, and Quinn was helping me babysit my little brother and sister."

"Why were you in that motel?" The drummer asked.

Finn, have you seriously forgotten everything we talked about last night?

"Because that's where I live now!" Sam said harshly. "My dad lost his job a few months ago. Then we lost our house. So now we live in that motel in one room." He couldn't even bear to look at them, let alone stay in the same room with everyone. "Are you all happy? The truth's finally out."

Kurt pursed his lips together as he watched Sam reveal what he'd been so desperate to hide. Almost calling out to him when he stormed out of the room.

This didn't have to happen.

The rest of Glee passed torturously slow. Finn trying to apologize to Quinn, Mr. Shue trying to figure out if his lesson was still salvageable, and the others trying to make sense of the fact that they actually knew a homeless person now. Go figure.

"Kurt?"

Glasz eyes shifted from his musings to the person who had come to sit next to him, and said his name. Kurt just glared at her, turning away without so much as a 'hello.'

I don't have anything to say to you.

Rachel wilted, "Please, just let me explain."

"No. Y-You LIED. To my boyfriend, Rachel!"

"In my defense, I didn't know it was a lie until today!"

You would've if you had just LISTENED to me!

Kurt grit his teeth, "I told you it was just gossip."

It's not my fault you didn't believe me.

"I know that now. And I'm sorry, but—" She sniffed, as if she had anything to cry about. "Blaine and I used to date; therefore, I still care about whether or not he gets hurt."

Oh, COME ON. Get over yourself.

"Rachel, I'm only going to say this once. Walk away."

"But—"

"Okay, no, no. Truth Time." He shifted in his chair so he could face her. "You don't get it. I can appreciate the fact that you wanted to inform Blaine of him being mistreated—which I'm going to pretend is true and that he wasn't just some pawn in a ploy for your own personal vendetta—because it is for that reason alone that I might forgive you. But not right now, not today. You are supposed to be me friend, you are supposed to trust what I say is true, not go behind my back and try to convince my boyfriend that I am unfaithful. Got it?"

Rachel bit the inside of her cheek, and nodded sulkily. "…yes."

End of Truth Time.

"Now, go away. I'm still trying to figure out how to clean up the mess you made."

"I-I could…I could tell you what happened. You know, when I saw Blaine. It might help?" Rachel said hopefully, trying to win brownie points any way she can.

Kurt sighed and thumped his head back against the choir room wall. Her presence was physically draining.

Might as well get an idea of what I'm dealing with.

"Blaine!"

"BLAINE!"

"HEY!"

Blaine turned around when he heard his name being called down the private school hallway, tilting his head and giving a confused smirk as the petite brunette made her way towards him. "Oh, hey Rachel. What are you doing here? And…how'd you know where I'd be?"

Did Kurt tell her?

"I asked the front office what your last class was."

"And they told you? Just like that?"

Talk about student safety.

"I just told them that I was your girlfriend, silly." Rachel smiled, mentally patting herself on the back for her quick thinking. "My acting skills are pretty phenomenal. They believed me just like that." She snapped her fingers.

That's…not at all creepy.

"As impressive as that is, was there a reason you drove all the way here? Dalton isn't going co-ed any time soon, so I doubt you're here about enrollment."

Rachel grew very serious then, she even put her hand on Blaine's shoulder. In an attempt at being comforting, but just made the Warbler feel a bit trapped. "Blaine Warbler, you were my first failed attempt at a relationship with a gay man. This puts you at a special place in my heart."

"Oh-Kay?" Blaine kind of wanted to run now.

"This means that I care about your wellbeing, and even though this might spiral you into a fit of depression, I have some information about a person—who is very important to you—that I believe you deserve to know." She squeezed his shoulder, trying her best to put on her sincerest sympathetic expression.

Does she mean Kurt?

"Rachel, what are you even talking about?"

"Blaine, as much as this pains me to say, I think you deserve to know…that Kurt has been cheating on you with another man." Rachel made a pained noise and put a hand over her heart, as if this information affected her too. "And by other man, I mean Sam."

…

"Um…" Blaine laughed disbelievingly, "what?"

"I'm sorry I have to be the one to tell you this, but after the conversation I had with Kurt about it, I don't think he would have told you what we know he's been up to."

H-He…no. No, he wouldn't.

"I think you've got it all wrong—"

"No, I've cheated before. I had a valid reason, but that's beside the point." She waved her hand dismissively. "In any case, I know what it looks like. Kurt's cheating. Kurt's a cheater. End of story." Rachel made sure to keep total and complete eye contact with Blaine. "But I am here for you in your hour of despair."

The Warbler furrowed his brows. "Uh…Rachel? Kurt told me about that horrible newspaper that's going around McKinley spreading gossip. I'm sorry you had to waste your time coming over here for just a rumor, but Kurt would never do that." Blaine defended, frowning at the accusation. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a coffee date to get to. With my perfectly loyal, completely not stepping out on me boyfriend." He gently removed Rachel's hand, and walked around her so he could forget about the absurdity of their conversation.

Times like these, Kurt should have stayed at Dalton.

"I saw them with my own two eyes."

Blaine stopped in tracks, turning back around to stare at her and the manila envelope she was holding up.

"And I have the pictures to prove it."

A/N: So I got distracted writing one-shots when I was supposed to be updating this. My bad. Anyways, thanks lovelies for sticking with me. This story is still my baby, and I would never abandon it. With that said, see ya next time and as always, don't forget to review! :D