Chapter Nineteen

Kurt blinked his eyes open, staring up at the ceiling. He turned his head, noting Blaine curled up on the couch and Trent asleep in an armchair. Kurt and Blaine had kind of had a minor argument over who should take the bed. Blaine ultimately won out because Kurt was still not feeling a hundred percent and the curly haired boy had wanted him to have as comfortable a sleep as possible.

Slowly, the tall witch pushed himself up into a sitting position and rubbed at his eyes. He looked back over at Blaine, who looked really kind of cute all curled up on the couch. Kurt let out a yawn.

"Good morning sunshine," he heard a voice and looked over at Trent.

"I thought you were asleep?" Kurt said.

"Nope," Trent replied. "Mindlessly vegetating."

"Did you sleep at all?" Kurt asked quietly. "That chair can't have been that comfortable."

"You're right, it's not. Which makes it a good thing that I don't have to sleep. Because of my power, whenever I just relax, I store energy. I don't necessarily need sleep."

"Oh," was Kurt's oh so clever reply. "I thought you and David were supposed to be working on the focus spell, not on guard duty."

"Wes and David both had to go to an emergency meeting with their dads. They should be back later today and David and I will resume work."

Kurt nodded and slid out of bed and into the bathroom. He emerged a short while later, showered, coiffed and dressed in his Dalton uniform.

"You look much more ready to rejoin society today," Trent said, still in the same position he'd been in when Kurt got up.

"I do feel a lot better today." he admitted. Maybe Thad's concoctions were actually working.

"That's good to hear," Trent said, offering him a smile. "Now, maybe you should make like Prince Charming and go wake Sleeping Beauty? Nick and Jeff are scheduled to take over and Blaine is not going to be happy if he's woken unintentionally by them."

Kurt frowned at the implication, but just shook it off. "What is up between those two, anyway?" he asked. "I've never seen one without the other."

"They've been inseparable since diapers, those two," Trent told him. "Today, they think they're being really clever, but everyone can see through that veil they're trying to put up."

That gave Kurt another pause for thought. "If witches are okay with homosexuals, why would they hide it if they are having a relationship?"

Trent sighed, shifting to sit up more properly. "Because both their parents have arranged for them to marry wealthy witches," he said. "Jeff and Nick are afraid if it got out that they were in a relationship, they'll be forced apart by their parents. As far as the Duvals and Sterlings know, they're just best friends. The thing is, the rest of us know their parents wouldn't care that they want to be with each other. In fact, we think they only came up with this arranged marriage thing to try and push them together."

"Sneaky," Kurt said. "Why not just be more obvious? My cousin's parents left pamphlets and condoms on his bed when he said he was bringing a friend over."

"Jeff's older brother did everything against what his parents wanted. So they thought Jeff would be the same. In which case, his parents feared that if he knew they wanted him to be with Nick, he'd start distancing himself from him."

Kurt just shook his head and moved over to the couch, gently nudging the sleeping boy with his knee.

"Jeff used to idolize Ivan. But it's probably best if you don't bring him up," Trent said.

Blaine stirred but didn't open his eyes. "No, I just wanna stay home and bake cookies," he mumbled.

"I'll let you bake cookies if you promise to make me some peanut butter chocolate chip ones," Kurt said.

"Heavy on the chocolate chips?" Blaine asked, still not waking up.

Trent grinned. "You know, they say that if you ask a person a question while they are asleep, they will always tell you the truth."

Kurt just shook his head, an indulgent smile on his face. "Blaine, time to wake up."

"Don't wanna. Cuddling," Blaine replied. Kurt was startled when the other boy reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him down practically on top of him.

Trent couldn't help the laughter that spilled from his mouth. "You better hope you get him up before the wonder twins get here. Blaine has been known to strike when woken unfavorably."

Kurt tried to disentangle himself from what suddenly seemed like the grip of an octopus, but finally gave up when Blaine began whining like a puppy.

The pale witch groaned. "Why does he have to be so cute?"

Trent just laughed harder as a loud knock on the door preceded the entrance of Nick and Jeff. The blonde boy took in the situation on the couch, and then cried out cheerfully, "Cuddle party!" before launching himself towards the couch.

Blaine's eyes popped open at the loud noise. "One more step Jeffrey Sterling, and I'll switch your shampoo with the chocolate mousse."

Both Jeff and Kurt froze in their movements, although for two very different reasons. As Blaine had come fully awake, Kurt became aware that the shorter boy was fully awake.

"Um, Blaine?" Kurt said, voice a tad shaky. "Will you let me up, please?"

Blaine blinked, turning to look at Kurt in surprise, having not realized he was there right away. "Oh, sorry." He released his hold on the pale boy.

Kurt laughed nervously, smoothing his hands down his uniform. "It's okay. I tried to wake you before Nick and Jeff showed up. Trent said it could be dangerous otherwise."

"Dangerous for them. Not you," Blaine said softly.

Kurt smiled shyly at him before standing completely. "Come on sleepyhead, up and at'em then."

Blaine sat up and stretched, seemingly unaware of the fact that his t-shirt had ridden up in his sleep, and he was displaying an impressive abdomen.

Kurt swallowed heavily and tore his gaze away, busying himself with putting books into his messenger bag.

Trent, Jeff and Nick all exchanged knowing looks.

Kurt turned back to Blaine. "Do you need anything before I leave?" he asked the boy.

Blaine opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but glanced at the other three boys first, and thought better of it. "I'll be fine."

"Okay," Kurt said. "I'll be back at lunch to check up on you, okay, sweetie?"

Blaine smiled at the endearment, and nodded. He watched as Kurt said goodbye to the other boys and left.

"Someone's a smitten kitten!" Nick singsonged after Kurt had left the room.

To everyone's shock, one of the pillows shot off the couch and slammed into Nick's head.

"Practice what you preach," Blaine muttered, getting up and disappearing into the bathroom.

Nick was still standing there in stunned silence, as Jeff and Trent looked at each other. "That couldn't have been Kurt," Trent said. "His powers are still bound for another twenty four hours."

"Do you think it was Ethan? Can he use his powers from the vessel?" Jeff asked.

Trent shook his head. "I don't know. I don't think that's possible, but maybe Beatz can tell us for sure."

…

Kurt had only been to his first two classes when someone suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him into an empty classroom, shutting the door behind them.

"What?" Kurt said. "What's going on?"

"Sorry about that, Porcelain, but it was the easiest way to get your attention."

Kurt's eyes widened when he realized who was in the room. "Coach Sylvester? What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk," Sue replied, crossing to the window and pushing down a few blinds as she gazed out of it.

"Listen, Sue, I'm not a McKinley student anymore. You can't just intimidate me like this."

"I'm not here to intimidate you, Porcelain. I'm here to give you a warning," she said.

Kurt crossed his arms over his chest. "A warning about what?"

For perhaps the first time since he'd known her, Sue looked concerned. "An unexpected visitor dropped into my office yesterday afternoon. He wanted to know everything I knew about you. And then he told me that if I didn't tell him what he wanted to know, he'd slit your throat."

Kurt's knees buckled and he dropped heavily into a chair. "Who was it?"

"I don't know," she said. "I didn't recognize the guy. But he said you were in his way."

"Did he have a face?" Kurt asked.

"Come to think of it, he was wearing one of those stocking masks, like a bank robber," she replied. "Look, Porcelain, I know I tend to act like I don't care, but you have to promise me that until this is solved, you won't leave this school, at least not alone. He can't attack you right now, but that will only buy you some time. The compulsion spell won't last for long."

Kurt narrowed his eyes at her words. "You, too?"

"Does that honestly surprise you?" she asked.

He just shook his head. "Not really."

"I didn't think so. Now promise me. Promise me you won't leave at the very least, unattended."

"Fine. Just answer one question. Who else? I'm not going to be surprised by any other witches I never knew about in my life, am I?"

"Not that I'm aware of," she told him honestly. "As far as I know for sure, it's just me, Alma, Sandbags, and Aretha. Though I suspect Coach Beiste might be hiding something." She paused for a moment. "Oh, and someone else close to you, but in this case, I can't tell you more than that because I don't know how much they want you to know. Assuming they aren't aware that you're a witch, yet."

Kurt frowned, tempted to demand who, but deciding against antagonizing her. "Fair enough."

"Also, I would be prepared. Your friends had to tell the screeching hobbit."

It took Kurt a moment to figure out what she meant. "Rachel? She knows?"

"Drove right into a rule of conduct. Essentially, it got to the point where the war wouldn't end without telling her the truth. Sandbags and Aretha told me all about it."

"Are we sure she won't go blabbing the truth to anyone who will listen?"

Sue sighed. "It's not an issue if people know that we're witches," she said. "Chances are, if she goes blabbing, no one is going to believe her. Not just because she's claiming witchcraft, but because she's the screeching hobbit."

…

Kurt had spotted Beatz in the hallway after Sue had left, and he rushed up to the other Circle member. "Do you know where Wes or David are right now? It's important I speak to them, ASAP."

"They just got back from the meeting," Beatz said. "What's wrong, Kurt?"

"I just had a visitor who warned me that Andrew Smythe wants me 'out of his way,'"

Beatz cursed under his breath and immediately started leading Kurt to Wes' dorm room, knocking on the door in an urgent manner. "Wes! David! We have a problem!"

There were sounds of people moving rapidly from inside, and it took a long moment before Wes opened the door. "What's going on?"

Kurt and Beatz exchanged a look before Beatz gestured for Kurt to tell Wes what he'd just told him.

Kurt explained his visit from Sue Sylvester, looking from Wes to David.

Wes' eyes went wide and he let out a string of expletives. "I hate to do this," he said, "but it might be in your best interest if we keep you in the room with Blaine until further notice. If Andrew is threatening your life, the best thing to do is put you somewhere he can't get to you until we can defeat him."

David frowned. "But what if we need Kurt to defeat him?" he asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. But right now, we can't take chances. Kurt's well being is in our hands here. We need to do right by it." Wes looked to Beatz. "Make sure Kurt gets back to Ethan's room, and explain to Nick and Jeff what's going on."

Beatz nodded and began to turn away, but Kurt hesitated a moment. After a moment he leaned forward to whisper in Wes' ear. "Your shirt is inside out," he said before following Beatz.

Wes looked down at his shirt before watching the two boys walk off. He turned back to David. "He knows," he said.

David shrugged. "They're all going to figure it out eventually."

Kurt couldn't help the smug look on his face as he followed Beatz back to Ethan's room.

Beatz looked over his shoulder. "What are you so smug about?" he asked.

Kurt just shook his head. "Blackmail information."

"Your life has been threatened and all you can think about is blackmail?" Beatz said, raising an eyebrow, though the expression on his face was one of amusement.

Kurt looked him dead in the eye. "I'm a gay teenage boy in homophobic Ohio. My life is always being threatened. Threats don't scare me any more. And Blackmail is so much more entertaining to think about."

"Even though this time it's someone who won't hesitate to actually follow through?" He knocked on the door to Ethan's room before opening it. "Today's your lucky day, Blaine," he said. "Kurt's your new cellmate."

Blaine turned around quickly from where he'd been standing at the window. "What? Why? What happened?"

Nick and Jeff exchanged a concerned glance before looking at Beatz. "Apparently, Andrew threatened Kurt's life."

"What?" the three other boys all said.

"Yeah, apparently he approached my old Cheer coach at McKinley and demanded information from her, and said he'd slit my throat if she didn't tell him what he wanted to know."

"What the hell?" Blaine said, suddenly looking extremely angry.

"So Wes ordered that Kurt stay in here until further notice," Beatz said.

"Why did he go to your cheer coach?" Nick asked.

"Apparently she's one of us," Kurt said, shrugging, dropping his messenger bag on the end of the bed and pulling off his blazer.

Blaine walked over to him and took one of his hands. "Are you okay?" he asked, concerned for the other boy.

It was Beatz who responded. "That boy has balls of steel. He hasn't even flinched at the thought of someone threatening him."

Blaine didn't respond. He just took Kurt by the hand and led him over to the couch to sit down. He sat next to him, perhaps closer than was normal.

"I'm fine," Kurt said. "I'm not afraid of Andrew."

"I don't care," Blaine said. "I will cut him to pieces if he lays a hand on you."

Kurt smiled, and squeezed his hand. "I'm more worried about you," he said. "Andrew wants you, most likely to make you some kind of mindless sex slave. I won't allow that."

"At least I'll be alive," Blaine said, frowning. "I don't want you to die on account of me." He squeezed his hand back. "You're special, Kurt."

"Awe!" Jeff said, ruining the moment. "You two are so adorable together!"

Beatz whacked the blonde in the back of the head. "Way to go genius," he said sarcastically. "I think it's time for a shift change up here."

"You just want an excuse to skip Literature today," Nick said. He thought for a moment. "I'll make you a deal. If you can answer a question for us, we'll trade with you."

"What's the question?" Beatz asked.

Nick and Jeff glanced at each other before Nick continued. "Is it possible for Ethan to use his powers from inside the vessel?"

Beatz frowned. "It shouldn't be possible, under normal circumstances. Why?"

Kurt was looking rather curious at the whole thing, wondering what the boys were getting at.

"Because," Nick said. "A pillow from the couch launched itself at us after Kurt left the room. And it couldn't have been Kurt, anyway, because his powers are still suppressed."

The taller witch thought about it for a moment, and then turned to look at Blaine. What he was thinking was impossible, wasn't it? He went to the table in the corner where a lunch tray was sitting, and picked up an apple. "Hey Blaine, think fast!" And without further warning, pitched the apple as hard as he could towards the curly haired boy.

Blaine, who hadn't been paying attention to the other three boys, turned to see what Beatz wanted, and his eyes went wide as the piece of fruit came barreling straight for his face. But all five of them were stunned when the apple froze mid air, about six inches from the boy's face.

"How is he doing that?" Kurt asked, staring at the frozen apple. "Has he ever done that before?"

Beatz shook his head. "He's not doing it. Well technically he is, but he is using your magic to do it."

"What?" Kurt shook his head. "How is he using my magic?"

"Trent might be better able to explain it, but basically, you've merged your powers somehow. I believe that if your powers weren't currently being suppressed, you might even be able to tap into his Vision or Prophetic Dreaming abilities."

Blaine was just as stunned as the rest of them. "How is that even possible though? I've never heard of that before."

"More proof that you too belong together?" Jeff suggested, smirking.

"Yeah, then why can't Wes create spells?" Kurt muttered under his breath so only Blaine heard him.

Blaine looked at him curiously. Without really thinking about it, he leaned over and pecked the taller witch on the cheek. Kurt blushed, but smiled serenely at him. The other three boys shared a look.

"How would we have merged our powers, though?" Kurt asked. "Is it even possible?"

Beatz looked thoughtful for a moment. "I know Blaine didn't actually manage to touch the vessel because he was zapped, but perhaps because you were under that trance with the vessel in your hands, when Blaine got zapped he absorbed some of your power too."

Blaine thought about it for a moment. "I think we need to talk to Trent."

"I'll go get him," Beatz said.