Something had been nagging at Jeff since the whole 'let's scare Niff out of their wits' incident. Well, actually since the Murder Mystery game where Kurt kept avoiding detection.

"There has to be a secret passageway in the ballroom that leads to somewhere on the other side of the building," he whispered to Nick as they were leaving the karaoke challenge.

Nick had nodded, and followed him to the ballroom, and together they explored every inch of wall. Jeff was studying the painting behind the piano, frowning at it. "Why does this portrait have such an elaborately carved frame, when the other pictures are all in plain gold frames?"

The two boys exchanged a look, and with triumphant grins, began poking and prodding at the various swirls and fruits and other designs on the frame. Nick placed his thumb over what appeared to be a cherry halfway down the left side, and they were both startled by the sound of something shifting behind them.

They spun around in time to see the heavy piano sliding away from them, revealing a hidden stairway beneath it. Jeff staggered back in surprise, and his elbow bumped the small carved grapes in the bottom right corner of the frame, triggering the latch and swinging the portrait open, once again surprising the boys.

"Two secret passages!" Jeff almost shouted.

"Awesome!" Nick said, hugging him. "Which one should we explore first? Or should we split up?"

Jeff wasn't entirely sure he liked the idea of splitting up. At the same time, they'd cover more ground that way, and if they weren't supposed to just find these secrets, at least they'd be able to get back faster than the council could possibly notice.

"One of these has to be how Kurt was getting around undetected," the blonde boy said, nodding to each of them.

Nick did not miss the fact that his boyfriend hadn't even answered his split up question, but he didn't say anything. "I don't think it's that one," he said instead, pointing to the stairs. "That leads down to who knows where, hopefully not another basement, and anything other than the first and second floor was off-limits during the Murder Mystery game."

Jeff tapped his chin. "Good point. If Wesley knew about the passageway, he would have told Kurt which to take because he was murdered here."

The brunette boy looked thoughtful for a moment. "Do you think it's possible there are secrets the council doesn't even know about?"

Jeff shrugged. "I don't think we should count anything out." He paused. "So, I'll see where the portrait passage leads and you take the stairs."

Nick frowned. "Why are you giving me the stairs? What if it is another basement?" The other boy rolled his eyes in good nature.

"Fine," he said. "You take the portrait and I'll take the stairs." Nick was biting his lip and it occurred to Jeff that maybe he didn't really want to split up. "Or we could both check out both?" he suggested.

His boyfriend was quiet for a moment before he shook his head. "No, it's probably better if we split up, just this once," he finally said, leaning in to wrap his arms around Jeff's neck and pecking the blonde boy on the lips. "As long as you remember I love you."

Jeff nuzzled him for a moment. "How could I ever forget that Nicky? I love you too." They kissed again before reluctantly pulling apart. "Just, be careful okay?"

"You too." Nick blew Jeff a kiss and turned, disappearing into the passage behind the portrait.

With the other boy gone, Jeff turned to face the stairs, feeling a lump form in his throat. If he was being honest, he wasn't particularly overjoyed about slipping down the stairs himself. Maybe he ought to bring in backup. He pulled out his phone and shot off a quick text to Blaine.

When the Warbler soloist arrived in the ballroom a few odd moments later, Jeff didn't miss the fact that his clothes and hair looked slightly rumpled and he smirked at the darker boy.

"Has Blainey-wainey been playing house?" he asked.

"Knock it off Jeffrey Sterling," Blaine bit and the blonde boy jumped back in surprise. Clearly, he'd got a very frustrated Blaine. The curly haired boy sighed. "Sorry," he said sincerely, running a hand over his face. "What did you need help with?"

Jeff shook the moment off, deciding not to pester Blaine right now about his habits playing house. Instead, he just gestured to the stairs leading down out of the ballroom and the other boy approached them with a raised eyebrow.

"Where did this come from?" he asked.

The blonde boy nodded to the portrait. "A cherry in the frame activated it." He flushed sheepishly. "Nick and I were trying to figure out how Kurt got all over the first floor without being detected. And we found this passage, as well as one behind the portrait."

"So where is Nick?" Blaine questioned, crossing his arms over his chest.

"He went down the other passage." Jeff frowned. "He should have been back by now though."

Blaine only laughed. "Knowing Nick, something distracting might have come up." Jeff shrugged, knowing his friend was probably right.

"Anyway," the blonde boy said. "I was wondering if you would check this one out with me. I told Nick I'd check it out so he wouldn't have to, but I'm not really keen on going down there by myself."

The Warbler soloist rolled his eyes at the boy and gave his head a shake. "Alright, come on you scaredy cat," he said, leading the way.

"I'm not a scaredy cat!" Jeff protested.

"Sure you're not, fraidy cat!" Blaine called back, already halfway down the stairs.

"Hey!" Jeff shouted. "Wait for me!" He hurried to catch up with the curly haired boy, only to find himself smacking into him. "What the hell Blaine?!"

The boy just shrugged with a smirk. "You said, wait for you." It took Jeff a moment to realize that Blaine had decided to be an ass and take the statement literally. He grunted in frustration and turned his phone flashlight on.

"I didn't mean literally," Jeff muttered. Blaine just shrugged. Clearly, he was wound up about something and Jeff made it a point to make sure he wasn't pulling Blaine away from pining over Kurt in the future.

The curly haired boy pulled a lighter out of his pocket and Jeff stared at it in surprise.

"What?"

"Where'd you get that?" the blonde boy asked.

Blaine looked at the lighter. "I confiscated it from Cooper the last time he was visiting. I brought it back with me so he couldn't steal it back. I knew it would be good for something." Jeff was still staring at him in surprise. "What?"

"Your brother smokes?" Blaine glanced around and tapped a finger to his lips and Jeff gave him an incredulous look.

"Walls have ears you know."

This was the kind of statement a boy like Jeff was liable to take literally and he glanced at the stone walls surrounding the staircase. He took a moment to press his ear to one of them and listened, while Blaine tried his best not to bust up laughing at the boy's reaction.

"Come on you goof," the curly haired boy said, grabbing Jeff by the back of his shirt collar and pulling him away from the wall.

The two boys continued down the stairs in silence until they reached a door at the bottom.

"What do you think is behind it?" Jeff asked. Blaine shook his head.

"No idea. But there's only one way to find out." He started reaching for the doorknob but his friend grabbed his arm.

"Maybe this was a bad idea."

Blaine snorted. "I knew you were a scaredy cat!" he teased.

"I am not a scaredy cat!" Jeff shouted, stomping a foot and crossing his arms, doing his best to give his friend a glare, and failing because Jeff was terrible at looking intimidating.

"Then open the door," Blaine said, standing to the side and gesturing with one hand.

Jeff looked from Blaine to the door and back again. "It's probably locked," he said. However, Blaine's only response was to mutter 'scaredy cat' over and over under his breath, teasingly. "Fine!" the blonde boy ground out. "I'll show you what a big brave dog I am!" He lunged forward and yanked the door open so hard, they were met with a huge cloud of dust.

Both boys found themselves coughing for what felt like the better part of ten minutes.

"Geez, has no one been down here this decade?" Jeff sputtered between coughs.

"Decade?" Blaine questioned, trying to stop his own fit. "I don't think this door has been opened for at least fifty years, possibly longer."

That thought gave Jeff pause. He remembered Nick asking whether it was possible there were passageways the council didn't know about and wondered if this could be one of them. If Wes, David, and Thad knew about this place, surely it wouldn't be left in such disarray.

"I don't think the council knows about this one," he said quietly. Blaine whipped his head to look at him. "Think about it. If any of the prior councilmembers knew about this passageway, they would have kept it, and what is behind this door clean for sure. And it's obvious no one's been down here for a very long time."

Blaine was quiet for a moment. "So not all of Dalton's secrets have been uncovered," he said, his eyes going round. "Maybe we should see what's in the room and report back to the council?" he suggested.

"Only if it's cool enough," Jeff stated. Blaine rolled his eyes but the blonde boy couldn't see it in the dark.

"Let's go," Blaine said a moment later. The two boys gripped each other's hands tightly as they stepped forward while the dust settled.

The room they found was one that made their jaws drop. It was large. There were tables and chairs covered with canvas sheets placed around a tiled floor. A small stage was set up at one end, an antique baby grand piano set off to the side of it, a dusty old-fashioned microphone left standing in the middle. To one side of the room was a long counter, complete with stools upturned on top of it. A bar. And to their great surprise. There were still bottles full of liquor on the shelves behind it.

"What is this place?" Jeff asked, releasing Blaine's hand and taking a few steps into the room.

Blaine followed, silent for a moment, making his way to the center of the room and slowly taking in everything he could see. He finally turned back to Jeff.

"I think it's a speakeasy."

…

Meanwhile, Kurt was in a bad mood. He and Blaine had just settled into a rather pleasant make out session when the curly haired boy had gotten a text, and ran off, muttering something about an emergency.

Deciding it would be conspicuous if he hid in his room while all his friends were downstairs, he quickly freshened up and went in search of Mercedes and Tina. As he was making his way past the second floor corridor, he heard a muffled noise coming from what should have been an empty classroom.

Frowning, he went to investigate. The door was slightly ajar, and he peeked inside, just as a familiar voice let out a gasp of pleasure. He immediately slapped a hand over his mouth and ran back the way he came. That was something he had not expected!

He rushed downstairs, face red and ears still ringing from what he had just seen and heard. He was so distracted, he almost walked into Finn, who was coming out of the library.

"Oh hey, Kurt," he greeted "I was just going to see if I could scrounge up a sandwich in the kitchen. Want to join me? Maybe make some of that warm milk with the nutmeg? I know it's not bed time, but that really sounds good right now."

"What?" Kurt asked, blinking up at the taller teen. "Oh, sure, sure, let's go!" Anything to get the image he'd just seen out of his head.

He followed his stepbrother to the kitchen, and for a moment the vague thought crossed his mind to wonder where the kitchen staff were once again. He would have thought there would be someone here prepping for dinner service, but even that curiosity wasn't enough to completely drive away what he had witnessed.

Forcing the image out of his mind with determination, he scrounged up a saucepan, milk, and nutmeg. He was aware that Finn was prattling on about something to do with Rachel as he made several lunch meat and cheese sandwiches, but really wasn't paying much attention. The more he thought about what had happened upstairs, the more it seemed to make sense. And who was Kurt to judge?

He stirred the milk over the burner, thinking that this was probably a good thing. One less probably for him to worry about. Or it could be one huge problem if things went bad…

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a triumphant shout coming from inside the walk in freezer.

"Is that Nick?" Finn asked, looking over at the heavy silver door swinging open. "How'd he get in there?"

"Looks like he found my secret," Kurt said, as the brunette Warbler stumbled out of the deep freeze.

Nick looked at the two of them, and grinned. "I knew it! I knew there was an explanation of how you got from one side of the building to the other without anyone seeing you!"

"Congratulations, you found the secret passageway," Kurt said, looking behind the shorter boy. "Where's Jeff? I thought he'd be attached to your side when you made the discovery."

"Jeff is exploring the other passageway we found," he said, snagging one of Finn's sandwiches.

Kurt frowned. "What other passageway? Wes only told me about this one."

"Maybe Wes doesn't know about the other passage," Nick said, taking a big bite of the sandwich. "It's under the piano in the ballroom."

"Under the piano?" Kurt said, quickly removing the milk from the burner when it almost bubbled over.

"Yeah, the release was some cherries on the picture frame. I'm not sure what Jeff bumped that opened this passage."

"The grapes on the lower right corner. Well, the small one at the bottom of the cluster," Kurt supplied. "Where did the other passage lead?"

Nick shrugged. "I don't know. We split up."

Kurt frowned, but it was Finn who spoke. "That probably wasn't the best idea. What if the other passageway has crumbling floors or ceilings?"

The three of them exchanged a look, and then ran down the passageway towards the ballroom.

…

Blaine was walking around the room, inspecting everything, but being afraid to actually touch anything. Jeff remained in the doorway just looking inside the room. Both boys had been quiet for several moments.

"How do you know this is a speakhard or whatever it was you called it?" Jeff asked.

Blaine looked back at him. "Speakeasy," he corrected, wondering how Jeff had never heard of them before.

"Yeah, that. How do you know?"

The curly haired Warbler shrugged. "It looks like one." When Jeff gave him a blank stare, he realized he was going to have to elaborate. "In the nineteen-twenties, alcohol consumption was illegal. So people, most likely mobsters and the like, set up secret underground operations where they would sell alcohol to patrons. These were called speakeasies and you had to be invited, or led, and have a password to get in. They also had performances for the entertainment of the patrons."

Jeff was still staring at him. "Sometimes I wonder if you weren't actually born in the olden days, the amount of stuff you know." Blaine just laughed.

The Warbler soloist made his way across the room to the baby grand piano and hesitantly pressed a key. A loud, echoing, out of tune tone rang out, causing them both to cringe.

"Hey, it still plays. We might be able to tune it back to shape," Blaine said.

As he pressed the piano key, Nick, Finn, and Kurt had started descending the stairs, with the former boy clinging to both the other two. All three of them stopped when they heard it.

"What was that?" Nick asked in a jittery voice.

Kurt was glancing towards the ceiling, a thoughtful look on his face. "It sounded like a piano key," he said after a moment.

Finn frowned. "How do you know that?" he asked.

The pale boy snorted. "I never missed a piano lesson, Finn. I know what a piano sounds like. Even if it is very out of tune, as I'm suspecting this one is."

"You mean to tell me there's a piano down there?" Nick asked.

"I think the more important question is, who's playing it," Finn remarked. The three boys glanced at each other before both Finn and Kurt looked at Nick. The Warbler let go of them only to throw his hands up in surrender.

"Don't look at me. Jeff doesn't play piano. And I highly doubt he'd touch anything that doesn't look sanitary anyway." Kurt looked as though he had a smart remark, but he bit back on it and said nothing.

"You don't think it's a ghost, do you?" Finn asked.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous, Finn." He thought for a moment. "Wait, Blaine and I were hanging out and then he got a text and ran off, saying something about an emergency."

Nick frowned. "I'm not sure why Jeff would see coming down here as an emergency," he said.

"But Blaine plays the piano," Kurt stated. "It's his favorite instrument of everything he knows how to play. It wouldn't matter if it looked old and dingy, he wouldn't be able to resist hitting a key."

"So you think Blaine is down there with Jeff?" Nick asked.

Kurt shrugged. "Only one way to find out."

The three boys were hesitant before they once again started down the stairs.

"Jeffy?" Nick asked several moments later when they reached the bottom and came across the blonde boy standing in the doorway.

Jeff whirled around, jumping in surprise at the unexpected sound. "Nick!" he shouted, placing a hand to his chest. "Don't do that!"

Nick looked sheepish. "Sorry," he said sincerely. "Why are you just standing there?"

"I'm not as enthusiastic about actually going inside," was the boy's reply, but he sounded as though he couldn't decide whether it was a question or a statement.

"It's not that scary!" Blaine called from inside the room, and Kurt gave both Nick and Finn a look that said, 'I told you so.'

The curly haired boy appeared in the doorway. "Oh hi Nick, Finn, Kurt." He smiled at the latter of the three.

"Shame on you, Blaine," Kurt said playfully. "Playing out of tune pianos and scaring people." Blaine blushed. "What is this place anyway?" Kurt went on, moving past Jeff and into the large room.

"Blaine says it looks like a speakeasy," Jeff replied.

The Warbler soloist grinned. "Yeah, and there's still plenty of alcohol down here."

Nick was about to make a comment, when his cell phone chirped an incoming text. Kurt's, Blaine's, and Jeff's did as well. "Guess David and Thad are finished setting up whatever activity they were planning. We should head back upstairs."

…

Discovering the underground speakeasy had only managed to distract Kurt for a short while, but the moment he saw Trent entering the dining hall in front of them brought back the image crystal clear, especially when he noticed the younger boy was pushing Artie's wheelchair in front of him.

He paused and held Blaine back a moment while the others went ahead. "Remember when I said we had to do something about Trent earlier?"

Blaine nodded.

"Well, I don't think we have to worry about him anymore."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because, after you ran off and left me frustrated, I was coming downstairs to find Mercedes and Tina, and heard a noise in the second floor corridor. I went to investigate and got an eyeful of Trent giving Artie a blow job."

The curly haired boy subtly glanced in Trent's direction and then gave Kurt his full attention once more. "I'm sorry, what?" he said, not even sure if he could believe such a thing. Though he knew Kurt would never lie to him. It was just something he was having a hard time wrapping his head around. "Trent and Artie? Are you sure?"

Kurt just gave him a look that clearly read, 'do I look like I'm kidding?' "I'm positive! How many boys in wheelchairs do you see rolling around here?"

Blaine shook his head. "I didn't know Artie was gay. Or is he bi?"

The pale boy shrugged, looking slightly confused. "I don't know. He's only ever dated girls," he replied honestly. At least, as far as Kurt knew, Artie had only ever dated girls. He blinked a couple of times, and then added, "but I'm starting to wonder if any of the supposed straight boys are really completely straight. With the exception of Finn, of course."

Blaine opened his mouth to comment, but was interrupted by David, who was standing in the doorway of the dining hall. "Are you two going to join us, or are you just going to stand there and pretend that you aren't both mutually pining for each other?"

Blaine glared at the councilman as he and Kurt entered the dining hall, and David retreated to the head of the table with Thad.

"Okay, listen up, everyone. Thad and I have decided that we should do a scavenger hunt! We've made a list of thirty items. Twenty-five of the items are worth one point each, while the remaining five are worth ten points apiece."

As he spoke, Thad began passing out the printed lists. "You'll all team up, one Warbler, one New Direction per team. You'll have ninety minutes to search. The team that earns the most points will win a prize."

"What's the prize?" Puck asked.

David gave the mohawked boy a smirk. "Now, what good would it be to tell you what the prize is? If you don't like it, it might sway your motivation and that would be too bad if your partner is interested."

Puck rolled his eyes and stood up. "Sounds like you don't want to tell us how lame the prize is. Whatever. I think I'm going to sit this game out." He strolled out of the dining hall.

Lauren stood as well. "As fun as this sounds, I think I am going to sit out as well. The last time I went on a scavenger hunt, I got lost in the woods for two days before anyone noticed I was gone."

Before David or Thad could say anything else however, there was a banging on the table.

"Order!" Nick yelled, holding up Wes' gavel.

"Hey!" Wes cried, snatching his precious little hammer from the brunette's hands.

Nick cleared his throat. "I mean objection! Jeff and I are objecting to the team rules. And unless you amend them for me and him to work together, I don't want to play either." He made a hmphing noise and plopped back down on the bench, arms folded and a pout on his face.

However, David was prepared for just such an issue as a complaint from Niff about the fact that they couldn't work together.

"Oh, but Nicholas," he began in a falsely innocent voice. "Participating in the scavenger hunt will give both you and Jeff sufficient reasons to look for more of Dalton's secrets. And splitting up would allow you to cover more ground."

Nick and Jeff exchanged a look, and Kurt wondered if they were going to mention the speakeasy, but saw Blaine shake his head at the blonde boy when he opened his mouth. Maybe it would be a good idea to keep that quiet for a while longer.

"Fine," Jeff sulked, glaring at the dark skinned boy. "But you'll be sorry if we find a secret you and the other councilmembers don't know about, and we don't tell you!"

David just rolled his eyes at the blonde boy, as Thad cleared his throat. "Anyway, we've already determined the teams. We were going to pair Kurt with Lauren, and Blaine with Puck, but since those two bowed out, I see no problem with having Kurt and Blaine be a team."

Nick opened his mouth to object again, but Jeff just put a hand on his arm and shook his head. Thad cleared his throat again, and continued. "The other teams will be; Finn and Simon, Artie and Trent, Tina and Michael, Mike and Beatz, Quinn and myself, Sam and David, Mercedes and Anthony, Santana and Jeff, Rachel and Wes, and Brittany and Nick."

"Wait," Wes said, already a little miffed that the other two councilmembers had organized this without him. "Why am I teamed with Rachel again?"

"Because you two are both hotheads," Thad replied in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"And so you two can't annoy anyone else," David added. Wes glared at him, and David knew there was going to be an argument in their future, but he didn't mind. He knew how it would end. With a round of makeup sex. Maybe two or three.

They broke up into their specified groups and studied the lists.

…

Nick was studying the list as he and Brittany walked down the corridor;

1 point items

Restaurant receipt

Chick flick DVD

Lime flavored lifesaver

Piece of bazooka bubble gum

Baseball card

Political autograph

Postcard from any US state other than Ohio

Stuffed animal

Family photograph that IS NOT YOUR family

Yoyo

Tongue depressor

Cherry Chapstick

Book written in a foreign language

Penny with your birth year on it

Can of any brand of diet soda

Bag of microwave popcorn, unpopped.

Rainbow glitter

Toy Train Car

Fidget Spinner

Calendar page from last year

Tin of licorice

Stamp with anything on it as long as it is NOT a human

Piece of Homework that is NOT yours

Red Sock

Puzzle piece

Ten point Bonus objects

Sports Trophy for any sport other than Fencing, Tennis, or Lacrosse

Teacher's Faculty ID badge

Pocket Watch

Indian Head Nickel

Sherlock style pipe

He was trying to think of all the things he knew exactly where to find. The sooner he got done with this, the sooner he could be back with Jeff. He was pretty sure the easiest thing on the list would be the tongue depressor. All they had to do was pretend one of them needed to see the nurse and then the other could swipe one while she was distracted.

"I'm pretty sure some of the Dalton boys still here have some of these things," he mentioned to Brittany, deciding to try the harder stuff first. "We'd have to convince them to let us borrow their things for a little while though."

"Oh that's easy!" Brittany said. She was skipping along the corridor beside him, and Nick looked at her for a moment, tempted to ask her how convincing some snotty preppy boys to loan them their things was easy when she answered the unasked question. "We'll just offer to makeout with them in return for their things!"

The brunette came to a complete halt, glad he hadn't chosen to grab a water bottle on the way because he probably would have choked on it right then.

"I'm sorry, what?" he asked, surprised he was able to find any words at all.

She merely giggled and clapped her hands. "Oh yes!" she said. "Boys will do anything for a little kissing. Especially from blonde girls like me!"

Nick was flabbergasted by her strategy. "Aren't you like, with Santana?" he asked.

"Mm," she said. "But I have a perfect record at McKinley. Why can't I try for one here?"

"A perfect record?"

She nodded brightly. "I've made out with everyone! Boys, girls, the janitor!"

Nick stood there rooted to the spot. He was completely thrown off his game by this girl. If she wanted to make out with those boys, fine, but he was a one man, man. He was not kissing anyone who wasn't Jeff. Well, unless Jeff was there, and they were all kissing.

"Maybe we should just start with the nurse's office," he finally said, opting for the easiest task to try and get past this little suggestion.

…

"So, Blondie, do you know where to find all of this junk?" Santana asked, sounding bored.

Jeff shrugged. "Of course. I suggest we start with the tin of licorice, which can be found in Professor Scott's classroom, and the toy train car, which can be found across the hall from that in the teacher's lounge."

"Fine," the raven haired girl said. "Lead the way."

"So, can I ask you a question?" Jeff asked, knowing how temperamental the girl could be.

She scowled at him, but just indicated for him to ask.

"Why don't you want people to know that you care for Brittany? And don't look at me like that, everyone can see that she is the only one you never lose your temper at."

Santana was unusually quiet for a long time, something that had Jeff wondering if perhaps she wasn't going to answer, and he was about to just let it go when she finally did.

"Look, tell anyone I said this and I'll deny it. But I'm not as brave as Kurt. Kurt's sexuality basically was his reputation at McKinley and he owned it. But me, I'm a cheerleader and top bitch there. If it got out that I was in love with a girl, I would fall so high from that pyramid of popularity and I'm already at the bottom of one."

Jeff nodded. He could understand that. In junior high, he'd been afraid people would figure out he was gay, and that he'd get bullied for it. It hadn't been until he'd met Nick on the first day of freshman year that he'd decided it didn't matter what other people thought about him. The only thing that mattered was what he thought about himself, and he was tired of hiding who he really was.

Of course, being at Dalton, with its zero tolerance policy had helped. He had never gone through the things Kurt and Blaine had. Sometimes he wondered if that caused him to have blinders sometimes when people talked about being bullied. He understood what they were describing, but he couldn't imagine what that felt like.

"You know you don't have to tell everyone, but I bet if you told the New Directions, they'd be okay with it, and still accept you, no matter what."

She gave a non committal shrug. "Maybe. But why do you even care?"

He smiled at her, and in one of his rare moments of genuine seriousness, replied, "because you deserve to have someone who loves you the way that Brittany obviously does. You should be allowed to wear that title proudly, without fear. And I know what you are going to say, you don't want people to label you, right? But Brittany already has labeled you as someone special, and worthy. You shouldn't waste the chance to be with her just because you are afraid of what other people think. It wears you out after time."

She was silent as she considered his words. They reached Professor Scott's classroom just as Kurt and Blaine were leaving, tin of licorice in hand.

…

Kurt wasn't as familiar with the ins and outs of Dalton as Blaine was, so trusted him to know where to find everything on the list. They'd already gotten the yoyo from Mme. LeBreaux. The French teacher had confiscated it from a freshman a couple of days before the lockdown had gone into effect. Kurt had slipped into the classroom and retrieved it from her desk. They'd also gotten the toy train car from the train layout in the teachers' lounge, which was suspiciously empty, and had just retrieved the tin of licorice from Professor's Scott's supply cupboard.

As they were leaving, they passed Santana and Jeff.

"You might want to hurry," Blaine informed them. "Apparently Professor Scott's niece in Scotland hasn't sent him a new care package yet. There are only four more tins left."

"Thanks for the heads up," Jeff replied, ducking into the classroom with a strangely subdued Santana. Kurt turned to look back at her over his shoulder, concerned, but Blaine took his hand and pulled him along.

"Come on. We need to get to Coach Fairchild's office before anyone else. He has a boxing trophy in there."

Kurt nodded his head, wondering how Blaine even knew that. It came to his attention that he didn't have a clue if the other boy was on any of the school's teams. How much did he really know about Blaine? He shook the thought off.

"Also, I know where we can get a political autograph. A really good one too," Blaine said as they hurried up the corridor to the coach's office.

"Oh?" Kurt questioned, raising an eyebrow curiously. Blaine smiled. "Where?"

"I found one in the speakeasy," the curly haired boy said.

"You saw one in there?" Kurt asked, surprised by the admission. Blaine nodded.

He was still grinning as they slipped into the coach's office. "I was the only one who took the time to explore it," he said, making a quick beeline for the boxing trophy. Finding a pad of post-its, he scribbled a message to the coach so that he wouldn't jump out of his skin when he found the trophy missing. He also borrowed the photograph of the coach with his wife and sons in it. "It's a real valuable one too. Not sure how anyone could have left it behind."

"Why?" the pale boy asked. "Whose autograph is it?"

"President Woodrow Wilson's," Blaine stated as he glanced both ways after opening the door.

Kurt let out a low whistle. "Yeah, don't know why anyone would leave that behind. Wait, wasn't he president when the prohibition law went into effect?"

"Uh huh," Blaine replied. "Apparently, he was against it," he added. "Which makes it even funnier that I found his autograph in there."

The taller boy was quiet for a moment. "Sometimes I don't understand why the President is the top job if Congress and the Senate get the final say."

Blaine was about to reply when a sound caught both boys' attention and they glanced at each other. Slowly, they crept forward toward the sound and peered around a corner. It took all Kurt had in him not to let out a noise.

In a darkened corner of the corridor, their list lying forgotten on the floor, were Trent and Artie, and they were clearly more interested in each other's lips than they were in the scavenger hunt.

Kurt and Blaine turned the opposite direction and started to walk away as quickly and quietly as they could.

"If they had that on the list," Kurt said, "I'd get a bajillion extra points."

Blaine frowned. "How exactly would they list that? 'Witness an unexpected couple kissing?' How would we show proof?"

Kurt paused for a moment. "Take a picture with our phones?"

They stared at each other for a second as they considered, and at almost the exact same moment, they both shuddered at the idea.

"Okay, moving on," Kurt said. "What's next?"